Arapaima
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| phylum | Chordata | The arapaima, pirarucu, or paiche (Arapaima gigas) is a species of bonytongue native to the Amazon River in Brazil. It is the largest freshwater fish of South America. It can reach lengths of more than 2 m (6 ft 7 in), in some exceptional cases even more than 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) and over 100 kg (220 lb). The arapaima has a fundamental dependence on surface air to breathe. In addition to gills, it has a modified and enlarged swim bladder, composed of lung-like tissue, which enables it to extract oxygen from the air. This is an adaptation to the often hypoxic conditions of the Amazon floodplains.
For more information, visit the Wikipedia entry. Get back to Osteoglossomorpha |
| class | Actinopterygii | |
| order | Osteoglossiformes | |
| family | Arapaimidae | |
| genus | Arapaima | |
| species | A. gigas |
