Escudo de la República de Colombia Escudo de la República de Colombia
Panel de Accesibilidad

✎ Juan Pablo Rodríguez Malaver

✎ Juan Pablo Rodríguez Malaver

✎ Diego Aguilera

Black Arawana
Osteoglossum ferreiraiOrinoquia region

  • Generalities
  • Morpho-functionality
  • Lifecycle
  • Distribution

RECORRIDO VIRTUAL POR LA BIODIVERSIDAD DE COLOMBIA
Museo de Historia Natural
Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Black Arawana
Osteoglossum ferreirai

Known as Black Black Arawana. They have an elongated and compressed body, they are relatively large fish reaching 90 cm long. Adults are blue with a light belly. They have big eyes; mouth with pointed teeth and a pair of chins on the jaw. They feed mainly on other fish that are near the surface of the water or on insects that are outside it thanks to the jumps they make.

Conservation status

Extinct

Extinct in the Wild

Critically Endangered

Endangered

Vulnerable

Near Threatened

Least Concern

Not Evaluated

Data Deficient

Morpho-functionality

Mouth

They have a bumpy bone on their tongue that they use to chew their food.

Scales

The scales on its body are cycloid, they are thin and flexible, which gives them that iridescent color.

Breathing

Thanks to the suprabranchial organ which are a series of vascularized cavities on the gills they are able to breathe air.

Lifecycle

The breeding season begins during the high water season. It is estimated that their fertility is low with a laying of 200 to 300 eggs per female, the growth of the juveniles is slow. Spawning is total and the eggs float freely, without fixing structures. Fertilization is external and parental care is done by males who, upon detecting danger, shelter the fry in their mouths. They house up to 80 young, but in exceptional cases they can be more than 100. They reach sexual maturity when they are over 60 cm long.

Black Arawana

Distribution

Its distribution is restricted to the Negro river basin and in the tributary rivers Tomo and Bita of the Colombian Orinoquía. This fish prefers slow water environments.

Distribution area