carapo

plural carapos

1. The banded knifefish, a Brazilian fish, Gymnotus carapo.

   The CARAPO, so called in Brasil, has a body about a foot in length, and not two inches in breadth, being in the shape of a knife, [...]

   1763, The Natural History of Fishes and Serpents, Including Sea-turtles, Crustaceous, and Shell Fishes, with Their Medicinal Uses: 3, page 67

   3 more examples

   2. Gymnotus carapo. The head of the carapo is of a compressed form, and the upper jaw projects beyond the lower: the tongue is short, [...]. The usual length of the carapo is from 1 to 2 feet; [...]. 3. Gymnotus rostratus, or rostrated gymnote. In its general aspect this species is much allied to the carapo, but is readily distinguished by the peculiar form of the head, [...]

   1806, George Gregory, A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences: In Two Volumes, page 892

   The first species of the Sternopygidae mentioned in literature is the carapo of Marcgrav. The name Gymnotus was apparently introduced by Artedi [...]

   1893, Carl H. Eigenmann, Papers on Fishes of South and Middle America, page 556

   This single specimen was found among the carapo individuals of sample ZMA 101968. It agrees with the generic definition of Gymnotus as given by ELLIS (1913 : 113, 116-117), but differs from carapo in the following characters (cf. also table 1): greater preanal length [...]

   1957, Bulletin of Aquatic Biology, volumes 1-3, page 55