Close-up of the "largest freshwater monster on the planet" in the Amazon

Many people will be surprised by the terrifying giant appearance of the world’s largest freshwater “sea monster”.

Referring to giant fish, we often think of sharks, dolphins or whales in the sea, but right in the river area, you will be surprised by the extremely “huge” sizes of fishes.

And you will be extremely surprised about the giant fish named Arapaima – the freshwater “monster” of the Amazon region below.

Discovered by Swiss biologist – Louis Agassiz in 1829, the Arapaima fish (or walrus, walrus or Piracuru) living in tropical South America is considered one of the water fish. The world’s largest sweet.

Adults can reach a length of more than 2m, even more than 2.5m long with an average weight of about 100kg.
With some special individuals, the weight of sea urchin can reach 200kg, 3m long. In the world, there has been a discovery of a sea lion fish up to 4m long, weighing 300kg.

Juvenile sea urchins have silvery gray scales, round and elongated bodies, with a head resembling that of a snakehead. Mature fish are darker in color, grayish brown and have a metallic sheen.

On the scales of the dorsal, caudal and anal fins of the fish all appear orange-red spots that make them even more special.

Despite its size, the Arapaima fish is very cowardly. When startled, it will squirm and shoot water very hard as a way to show off its appearance.

Therefore, many super anglers often whisper to each other that, when hunting this fish, you should not panic them, only when you see them emerge and swim gently will you have a chance to catch it.

One of the special features of the sea lionfish is that they have the ability to breathe by catching the air above the water’s surface. Besides gills, this fish also “extracts” oxygen from the air thanks to the capillary layer in the throat – which functions like the lungs of land animals.

As a result, Arapaima fish can survive the dry season or the lack of oxygen in the Amazon wetlands by burying themselves in the mud of the swamp and breathing through their mouths. However, this inhalation of air must take place every 5 – 15 minutes.

Arapaima’s usual diet consists of fish, crustaceans or small creatures near the shore. However, sometimes, Arapaima wanted to show off his strength, so he threw himself skillfully by jumping out of the water a few meters to catch prey such as snakes, birds… Sea elephant dragon has quite sharp teeth to cut prey. Therefore, many people believe that, with species in the Amazon River region, Arapaima is the number 1 killer.

Sea sharks also have the same reproductive behavior as arowanas. That means that after the female fish lays eggs in the nest, the male will fertilize and then hold the eggs in his mouth from the 1st to the 4th month. When the rainy season starts in May, the water in the ponds and lakes. The high rise is also the time when the fry hatch and start life in the flood season.

At this point, the parents will control the brood by secreting a pheromone that has an attractive effect – helping the fry “not get lost”.

Despite its huge size, due to its beautiful shape and eye-catching colors, sea urchins are chosen by South American residents to be kept as ornamental fish. Not only that, people in Southeast Asia – specifically Thai people also have a hobby of raising this fish.

Due to being used as food, considered a specialty in South America, with high economic resources, sea urchins are actively hunted.

In addition to providing sweet and delicious fish meat – used in food, few people expect that the tongue of the sea lion is a necessary material to make medicine.

Specifically, the tongue of the dried sea urchin, combined with the bark of the guarana tree, will create a mixture used for deworming. In addition, the fish scales are also used as nail files.

Survey results in fishing communities living in the Amazon state show that this species of sea urchin has disappeared in many river sections, where they used to appear quite often before.