Osteoglossum
| South American Arowanas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Osteoglossum bicirrhosum | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Division: | Teleostei |
| Order: | Osteoglossiformes |
| Family: | Osteoglossidae |
| Genus: | Osteoglossum Cuvier, 1829 |
| Species | |
|
2, see text | |
 | |
Osteoglossum is a genus of fish in the family Osteoglossidae. They reach about 1 m (3.3 ft) in length and are restricted to freshwater habitats in tropical South America.[1][2]
These predators mostly feed on arthropods like insects and spiders, but may also take small vertebrates such as other fish, frogs, lizards, snakes, mice, bats and small birds.[3][4] They jump up to 2 m (6.6 ft) out of the water to pick the prey off branches, tree trunks or foliage, which has earned them the local name "water monkeys".[3] They are the largest fish in the world that catch most of their food out of water.[3] When breeding, the male protects the eggs and young by carrying them in the mouth.[1][5]
They are sometimes kept in aquariums, but they are predatory and require a very large tank.[5]
Species
There are two species:[2]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osteoglossum bicirrhosum Cuvier (ex Vandelli), 1829 | Silver arowana | Amazon, Essequibo and Oyapock basins |
 | Osteoglossum ferreirai Kanazawa, 1966 | Black arowana | Rio Negro basin, including the Branco River |
References
- 1 2 Olivares; Hrbek; Escobar; Caballero (2013). "Population structure of the black arowana (Osteoglossum ferreirai) in Brazil and Colombia: implications for its management". Conserv. Genet. 14 (3): 695–703. Bibcode:2013ConG...14..695O. doi:10.1007/s10592-013-0463-1. S2CID 16841836.
- 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Osteoglossum". FishBase. February 2017 version.
- 1 2 3 Carvalho, L.N.; J. Zuanon; I. Sazima (2007). "Natural history of Amazon fishes". In Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (ed.). Tropical Biology and Natural Resources Theme. Vol. 1. Eolss Publishers, Oxford. pp. 1–24.
- ↑ Julia Tovar Verba; Manoela Lima de Oliveira Borges; Maria Nazareth Ferreira da Silva; Lorena Costa Pinto; José Gurgel Rabello Neto (2018). "Mice on menu: opportunistic feeding behaviour of the Amazonian silver arowana Osteoglossum bicirrhosum". Journal of Fish Biology. 93 (1): 132–133. Bibcode:2018JFBio..93..132V. doi:10.1111/jfb.13665. PMID 29934944. S2CID 49378286.
- 1 2 Hill, N. (13 June 2016). "Predators: South American Arowana". Practical Fishkeeping. Retrieved 25 October 2017.