Abstract: Gymnarchus niloticus swims by undulations of a longbased dorsal fin, while its body axis is in many cases held straight during swimming. This paper provides a brief relevant introduction to Gymnarchus niloticus, which belongs to the African freshwater electric eels but can inspire our bionic interests in propulsion besides its abilities in electric sensing. A special larva of Gymnarchus niloticus was morphologically measured by photographing it with a piece of scalecalibrated paper as the background. Then we analyzed the data by a CFDaided approach. Detailed flow patterns around the larva and a NACA0012 hydrofoil were respectively calculated and visualized at the Reynolds number of 7350 or so. The results show that the profile of Gymnarchus niloticus is well streamlined.

Key words: Gymnarchus niloticus, bionic, morphological measurement, CFDbased analysis, streamlined profile