Arapaima
Arapaima gigas
— Where the name comes from
Arapaima is the animal’s name in Tupi, adopted untranslated; gigas gives the size. In Brazil it is also called pirarucu, which in the same language means “red fish”, for the colour the scales take towards the tail in adults. It is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world.
— Facts
- Group
- Fish · Actinopterygii · Chondrichthyes
- Order
- Bony tongues
- Habitat
- Oxbow lakes, flooded forest, slow Amazonian rivers
- Range
- The Amazon basin: Brazil, Peru, Colombia, the Guianas
- Size
- 2–3 m, up to 4.5 m; 100–200 kg
- Diet
- Fish, crustaceans, small animals fallen into the water
- Lifespan
- 20 years
— Characteristics
- 01
It must breathe air and surfaces every ten to twenty minutes.
- 02
The male protects the fry by keeping them beneath his head.
- 03
Its scales are the size of a hand and are used as nail files.
— What sets it apart
Its armour resists piranhas, and it has been studied under the electron microscope to find out why: each scale has a mineralised outer layer and beneath it a series of collagen laminae each oriented in a different direction, like plywood, which deflect cracks instead of letting them run. Piranha teeth bend before it gives. Several military and sports laboratories have tried to copy that structure for body armour.
