#tambaqui

drawing inspired by one of the tanks at the Shedd Aquarium… arapaima my beloved

Who doesn't enjoy a tasty piece of fruit now and then? Certainly not the tambaqui! These fish feed almost exclusively on seeds and fruits that fall into the water. They've even evolved a uniqhe set of molar-like teeth to better help them chow down! Because of their fruity appetites, tambaqui play a crucial role in the dispersal of seeds throughout the Amazon and Orinoco river basins.

Mangrove Maze Sunrise - Cortica River Midstream

Endless Ocean: Blue World, Nintendo Wii

Cachama!

Also known as a black pacu, black-finned pacu, giant pacu, tambaqui, just pacu... a beloved child has many names. This fish tends to shock folks due to its very human-like dentition, sporting flat, square-shaped teeth! The shape of the teeth can be explained by the diet of the cachama, as it mostly eats fruits, seeds and nuts, and needs ample biting surface to crack and crush them!

Below is an unidentified species of pacu.

macropomum)?

Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum)

(Photo by Drew Haines)

Conservation Status- Unlisted

Habitat- South America

Size (Weight/Length)- 44 kg; 0.8 m

Diet- Seeds; Fruit

Cool Facts- If you first looked at this fish and thought it was a piranha, you wouldn’t be far off. The tambaqui is a distant cousin of the piranha and comes from the wider family of pacu. Like piranhas, tambaqui have teeth. However, these teeth are flat and used for crushing nuts that fall into the water. Completely herbivorous, these gentle giants create mass schools in the murky water of the Amazon river. Like many Amazonian fish, tambaqui are able to breath oxygen from the air when there is a lacking in the water.