Yes.
Origin and Habitat: Widely distributed in the northern half of South America. Found in fast-flowing shallow streams and rivers having a soft substrate, usually sand and leaf litter, with branches, tree roots, etc.. During the wet season they move into the flooded forest.
Given the intended tankmates, the
Ctenopoma and the
Pantadon, which absolutely need still water, the aquarist can take the "flooded forest" habitat as the prevailing. The Vancouver Aquarium has a huge floor-to ceiling tank with a group of the knifefish and a group of angelfish, and these fish have been in that tank for years. It is very quiet water-movement wise.
This has reminded me...the African Butterfly does well in a pair (male and female are easy to differentiate from the shape of the anal fin) or a small group, and you have the surface space for this so it would be a shame not to enjoy their interactive behaviours. The following from my published profile of this species may be of interest.
Pantodon buchholzi is indeed a remarkable species. There are two distinct populations known in the wild, one in the Niger River basin and one in the basin of the Congo River, and only recently have these been shown to have significant genetic differences that have existed for at least 57.2 million years. In spite of this, the species is an example of what is termed "morphological stasis," which means that the morphology (the form or shape) has remained virtually unchanged throughout the species' existence. This constancy is believed to be greater than that of all vertebrate examples in fossil records (Lavoue, et al, 2011; cited in Dawes, 2011). Further study may determine that these are in fact two distinct species; the genetic differences between the two populations are so wide that "they might even be reproductively isolated owing to genetic incompatibilities." (Dawes, 2011).
This fish is capable of aerial respiration using the swim bladder. And the eyes are designed so that the fish can simultaneously see above and below the surface of the water. This is of particular importance when one considers that this fish has over-sized pectoral fins which are used to propel them out of the water, in the manner of the freshwater hatchetfishes, to catch flying insects and they can glide several feet. A good secure cover to the tank is strictly necessary and all holes for the filtration systems, air hoses, heaters, etc. must be very small.
This fish was described by W.C.H. Peters in 1876. It is the only species in the genus, and there are no other genera in the family. The name Pantodontidae is derived from the Greek pan [= all] and odous [= tooth, teeth]. The species epithet honours a Professor Buchholz who discovered this species. Two sub-species described by C. Bruning in 1911 were determined by Gosse (1984) to be conspecific with the subject species.
Pantodontidae is closely related to the family Osteoglossidae (Arowana) and these along with five other families that include the Arapaima, Elephantnoses and Knifefishes, belong to the Order Osteoglossiformes. The name derives from the Greek osteon [= bone] and glossa [= tongue] plus the Latin forma [= shape], and in English these fishes are referred to as the bony tongues. This is a very primitive order, with fossil records as far back as the late Jurassic period (roughly 161 to 145 million years ago). To put this into perspective, this was the period when the supercontinent Pangaea broke up into the two supercontinents Laurasia and Gondwana, which in time further divided into the continents as we know them today.
