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hello everyone. well i have a question about my Black Ghost Knifefish he/she seems to be getting really "fat" i dont know if he is sick, fat or maybe carrying eggs if they lay eggs lol i dont know alot about these fish and have never had one before so i dont know if this is a normal thing or not i noticed he was getting "fat" about a week ago. i cut back on food thinking i was maybe over feeding but i know im not (all my other fish are not getting fat) the strange thing is if he is swimming around he is round but when he lays on his side in the cave the "fat" shifts and is on the side that he lays on. the "fat" is not far down the body just under were his head is and the rest of the body is slim like it was before. any ideas on what is going on with my fish would be great. thanks for any help you can give.

Purple,
assuming that the BGK is otherwise seemingly healthy,
my guess would be its a fatty female holding eggs.
I have a female YoYo loach, fattest thing ever.
She just holds her eggs forever
Crazy fish.
Any chance you could try for a pic?


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i will see what i can do for a pic my camera has not been working but i will see what i can do thanks for the info

If by some change your Black Ghost Knife Fish is a gravid female, then it will present an unusual sight due to the anatomy of these fishes. If you check closely, you will find that the vent (the common opening for the alimmentary canal, the urinary system and the genital duct) is positioned not far behind the head. Indeed, most of the vital organs are packed into the space behind the head ... as is also the case with Gymnotid Eels and Electric Eels.

Consequently, a gravid female is going to sport a very odd bulge indeed - more or less where your fish is displaying the one you've reported.

As for what occupies that long body space behind the organs, beginning more or less at the anterior end of the anal fin and continuing back toward the tail extension, well, it's 'battery muscle' - the specialised combination of muscular plates that allow the fish to generate its electric field for navigation. A more powerful version of the same specialised muscle tissue arrangement is found in the Electric Eel, where it not only generates a navigational field, but stores a LOT of electric charge to be delivered in an electric shock ... in the case of a large specimen of the Electric Eel (and they reach 7 feet in length in the wild!) the fish may be capable of delivering up to 950 volts, at a current of 1 ampere - enough to fell a 2,000 water buffalo with ease!

Fish body designs can be quirky things ...



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