[2] The remaining species of Apteronotus leptorhynchus was redefined to a genetically and geographically isolated population inhabiting the Essequibo River and its drainage basin.

[4] As a member of the family Apteronotidae, brown ghost knifefish are laterally compressed and sport a long, posteriorly tapered body form.

Brown ghost knifefish can be identified externally by the pale median stripe running longitudinally from the chin through the dorsal half of the fish.

[2] Historically, this fish was thought to inhabit broad regions of northern South America, including the Pacific and Caribbean drainages of Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru.

[4] Within the Essequibo River and its drainage basin, brown ghost knifefish prefer deep channels where limited light can reach.

[6][7] Electric organ discharges (EOD) are frequently produced by brown ghost knifefish, serving a variety of functions including prey capture, navigation, and social dominance.

[8][9] Individuals relay an "echo" signal in response to these hardly detectable chirps, indicating a substantially high sensitivity to electrocommunication within this species.

In hypoxic environments however, brown ghost knifefish reduce the amplitude of EODs to maintain a healthy metabolic rate.

Among males, electric signals are intense and pronounced, utilized to establish social dominance and access to higher quality resources.

Long rises, conversely, serve an intersexual role and act as an advertisement of reproductive condition or status towards potential mates.

[13] Based on diet analysis of closely related and morphologically similar species, brown ghost knifefish likely feed on benthic invertebrates, shrimp, and small fish.

[14] Due to their capacity to produce electric signals and their unique lack of brain senescence, brown ghost knifefish are heavily researched in the fields of electrocommunication neuroethology.

[7][9][12][13] This species has been extensively studied to understand cellular, molecular, and morphological mechanisms underlying adult neurogenesis and neuronal regeneration in both the brain and the spinal cord.