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Interesting Creatures… Arapaima leptosoma
One of the largest freshwater fish is the Arapaima which lives in Tropical South America in a region between Brazil and Guyana. They can grow to a length of 3 metres and can weigh a massive 200 kilograms.
Arapaima can breathe air through a primitive lung, and tend to live in oxygen-poor backwaters.
Inhabitants of the Amazon region have been long dependent on the Arapaima and they are being hunted in large numbers leading to fears that they could be hunted to the levels which will make the species endangered.
The Arapaima was believed to be of only one type but a new species has been discovered. The discovery of the new species is important since it hints at the wide diversity of the Arapaima and also points out to the importance of more study on the species.
The research was headed by Donald Stewart and was conducted, “because it brings attention to the diversity of arapaima that is out there and that needs to be collected and studied. Hopefully it will get more people in Brazil looking more closely at what’s swimming around out there.”
It was a belief that there is only one species of Arapaima, but Stewart has revealed that there are five different and distinct species of the giant freshwater fish. In fact in March, Stewart published a paper which turned aside the notion which held true for more than 200 years that there is only one species of Arapaim.
The newest species, Arapaima leptosoma, had not been suspected before. The body of the Arapaima leptosome is more willowy than other arapaima. The Arapaima leptosoma bears an exclusive horizontal black bar on the side of its head, which is a distinctive series of sensory organs.
An arapaima is torpedo-shaped with large scales and red markings. It is streamlined and sleek, with dorsal and anal fins set back near its tail.
The newly discovered arapaima, named Arapaima leptosoma, is the first new species to be described since 1847.
The specific name leptosoma derives from the Greek leptos (slender) and soma (body), in reference to the relatively slender body form of this species.
The new species is “distinguished from all other Arapaima by following three characters: dorsal most lateralis sensory cavity on preopercle extremely slender; ventrolateral margin of head where third infraorbital meets anterior limb of preopercle strongly angled such that ventral surface of head is almost flat; and anterior third of dorsal-fin base covered with an enlarged, thickened sheath that hides anterior dorsal-fin rays when adpressed,” Prof Stewart described the new species in a paper published in the journal Copeia.
The only known specimen of Arapaima leptosoma was caught in 2001 near the confluence of the Solimões and Purus rivers in Amazonas State, Brazil.
“Collecting adult Arapaima involves considerable difficulties, both with logistics in the field and subsequent storage in museums,” Prof Stewart wrote in the paper.
“As this study demonstrates, however, collecting at least a few voucher specimens can greatly enhance our knowledge of these fascinating fishes. Many more are needed.”
“Arapaima have high economic, cultural, and scientific value, but their diversity has been overlooked for too long,” the scientist concluded. (Sources: The Pentagon Post; Sci News.com)
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