Bolivia - List of fishes

The arapaima, a freshwater giant reaching sizes of up to 4.5 meters, plays a vital role as a dominant predator in the Amazon basin. Equipped with thick and resilient scales that provide effective protection against predators, this iconic freshwater fish is threatened by overfishing. Juveniles breathe through their gills while adults often use their swim bladder to gulp air at the surface.

It must be kept in a good sized aquarium with efficient filtration, as it is used to chewing it food and scattering it. It is sometimes aggressive toward other species. It breeds easily in captivity. There are several varieties.

Small barbs located around its mouth enable it to search for food in the sand or mud. It goes regularly at the surface to breathe oxygen from the air. It acclimate easily to aquarium.

Small barbs located around its mouth enable it to search for food in the sand or mud. It goes regularly at the surface to breathe the oxygen from the air. It easily acclimate to an aquarium.

The female is stockier than the male. It easily accommodates to life in the aquarium. It is recommended to isolate the breeding pair. After spawning, remove the adult from the nesting site because they could eat the eggs and juveniles.

It is rather "shy". It lives in shaded areas or in natural hiding places where it black and yellow lines allow it to hide. It easily acclimate to an aquarium.

Dwark suckermouth

It also feeds off of feces of other animals. To protect itself, it has sharp bony plates along its sides. It emits sounds reminiscent of grunts. It easily acclimate to the aquarium, but because of its large size, it can become cumbersome.

It is accommodated to life in freshwater. It is ovoviviparous: the eggs hatch in it body, and it gives birth to fully formed juveniles. It acclimate easily in aquariums, but beware of the stings from its tail that can inflict very painful wounds.

Like many catfish species, it hunts at night. The female is larger than the male and lays huge amounts of eggs (8 million eggs per kilo). Because of its size and its diet, you should not keep it in a private aquarium.