Hydrolycus tatauaia

Hydrolycus tatauaia is a species of dogtooth characin found in the Amazon, Orinoco and Essequibo basins in tropical South America.[1][2] Adults mainly occur in deep and/or fast-flowing rivers.[3] It is migratory, moving upstream to breed in November–April.[4]

Hydrolycus tatauaia
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Characiformes
Family:
Cynodontidae
Genus:
Hydrolycus
Species:
H. tatauaia
Binomial name
Hydrolycus tatauaia
Toledo-Piza, Menezes & dos Santos, 1999

Like other Hydrolycus species, H. tatauaia has long pointed canine teeth that are used to spear their prey, generelly smaller fish.[4] The body and head are silvery, and there is a vertically elongated dark spot behind the opercle. The tail is reddish to orange.[2][4][5] The species name tatauaia is of Tupi origin and means "fire tail".[2][6] It reaches up to 59 cm (1.94 ft) in total length and 2.7 kg (6.0 lb) in weight.[1]

This predatory fish occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade, but it requires a very large tank.[4]

References
  1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2017). "Hydrolycus tatauaia" in FishBase. October 2017 version.
  2. Toledo-Piza, M.; N.A. Menezes; G.M. Santos (1999). "Revision of the Neotropical fish genus Hydrolycus (Ostariophysi: Characiformes: Cynodontidae) with the description of two new species". Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters. 10 (3): 255–280.
  3. van der Sleen, P.; J.S. Albert, eds. (2017). Field Guide to the Fishes of the Amazon, Orinoco, and Guianas. Princeton University Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-0691170749.
  4. "Hydrolycus tatauaia". SeriouslyFish. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  5. "Subfamily Cynodontinae". OPEFE. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  6. "Payara—Hydrolycus tatauaia". Acute Angling. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
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