Gigantic Amazon fish is going extinct

[FollowTheTrail]

''Weighting as much as 400 pounds, the massive arapaima fish is likely one of the largest fish you could ever see with your own two eyes. However, time is running out to see this majestic behemoth. Researchers have learned that the fish has become extinct in many local communities simply due to overfishing...''

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/8529/20140813/gigantic-amazon-fish-going-extinct.htm

That's sad!

[Keel M.]

I am familiar with these fish thanks to Jeremy Wade. Thankfully he's a catch-and-release fisherman. It's sad, but in many areas, the fish is what people need to survive.

[Sundew]

These fish have been introduced into other areas in South America not part of their original range and are actually becoming a problem. They have become the top predator cleaning out many fish species and leaving the local piranha starving for prey, making going into the water much more dangerous for humans and animals. Arapaima themselves are immune to piranha attacks, their overlapping scales encase them in armor too tough for the piranha's teeth.

Saw some baby ones once (about one foot long) for sale in a state where they are supposed to be illegal. While it was a tempting buy, they would very quickly eat you out of house and home and outgrow the largest aquarium any homeowner could easily get their hands on. Even their relative, the Silver Arowana gets too large for most tanks at nearly four feet.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Sundew