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A peaceful but enormous predator that eats any smaller fish.
This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.
A peaceful but enormous predator that eats any smaller fish. It breathes air and needs a huge lid-covered pond.
Check your local laws. International: CITES Appendix II (listed as A. gigas), so export needs a CITES export permit from the exporting country, issued only if the fish was legally obtained and export is not detrimental; no import permit is needed unless national law requires one. It is the only South American freshwater fish on Appendix II. IUCN: Data Deficient (1996). Check the rules where you live before you buy one, and never release it into the wild.
Not for home aquariums. This fish grows far too big for any home tank. It needs a pond-sized system of thousands of litres, so please don't buy one as a baby.
Pellets, whole fish, shrimp.
Tap a food to see what it is.
No year-round external differences; in the breeding period males become redder, especially on the head near the jaw. Otherwise sexing needs internal examination or blood hormone tests.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Nest builder ·
Pairs form in the rainy (flood) season and dig a nest about 50 cm wide and 15-20 cm deep on a firm bottom in shallow, shaded water. Both parents guard; after the yolk sac is used the young shoal around the male's head while the female guards the territory, for about a month. Not possible in home aquaria; bred in large farm ponds.
A mature pair in a large pond.
A pond of several thousand cubic metres.
Seasonal flooding and warm water.
A large clutch (tens of thousands; up to about 50,000 reported) of adhesive green eggs is laid in the nest. In the wild they hatch in about 4-5 days; in artificial agitated baskets larvae hatch in 18-24 h. Larvae are about 12 mm long and keep the yolk sac 8-9 days; the male guards the young.
Fry are raised on live food.
One of the world's largest freshwater fish, an obligate air-breather that gulps air at the surface with a loud sound. Overfishing has removed large fish from much of the Amazon. It is on CITES Appendix II, so international trade needs CITES export permits showing it was legally obtained and not harmful to wild stocks. Too large for any home aquarium.
Heinrich Rudolf Schinz described this fish in 1822 as Sudis gigas. It is one of the largest freshwater fishes, able to exceed two metres. It must breathe air at the surface every few minutes.
First described by Heinrich Rudolf Schinz in 1822. Named for 'gigas' means 'giant'.
17 facts checked with sources
Name used by FishBase and CITES, but Stewart (2013) revalidated A. agassizii, A. arapaima and A. mapae and described A. leptosoma. Fish in zoos and the trade are probably not A. gigas in the strict sense (most likely A. arapaima), so treat "A. gigas" as the genus-level trade name.
FishBase: Arapaima gigas summary · University of Florida IFAS Extension FA236: Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) aquaculture · Practical Fishkeeping (Sept 2009): Five Arapaima species, not oneLegacy has no family. Some works place it in Osteoglossidae (subfamily Arapaiminae).
FishBase: Arapaima gigas summaryTL. size-pick: commonly 2 m TL, recorded to 2.85-3.3 m; legacy 2.5 m sits within this. The FishBase 4.5 m maximum is a single old record. Matures at about 1.5 m.
FishBase: Arapaima gigas summary · University of Florida IFAS Extension FA236: Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) aquaculture · Practical Fishkeeping (Sept 2009): Five Arapaima species, not oneUF/IFAS recommends 26-28 °C for culture.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): Arapaima gigas · FishBase: Arapaima gigas summary · University of Florida IFAS Extension FA236: Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) aquacultureSources span pH 5.8-8.0 (hobby 5.8-7.2, FishBase 6.0-6.5, aquaculture recommendation 6.5-8.0); legacy 6-7.5 lies within.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): Arapaima gigas · FishBase: Arapaima gigas summary · University of Florida IFAS Extension FA236: Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) aquacultureLegacy has no hardness. Hobby reference; FishBase gives "dH range: 10 - ?".
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): Arapaima gigasNo source gives a volume for adults; aquaculture brood ponds use 100-300 m² of pond per adult (UF/IFAS). Legacy 20,000 L not confirmed; see traits.homeAquarium.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): Arapaima gigasHobby reference only.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): Arapaima gigasFishBase says demersal; it must surface to breathe air and the hobby reference gives top level. Not confirmed.
FishBase: Arapaima gigas summaryLegacy has no range field. Exact range per species after the 2013 split is unresolved.
FishBase: Arapaima gigas summary · University of Florida IFAS Extension FA236: Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) aquaculture · Fishipedia: Arapaima gigasRedness is on the head/jaw and body, not only the tail.
University of Florida IFAS Extension FA236: Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) aquaculture · Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): Arapaima gigas"Legal farming only" is not a biological fact; trade rules are in traits.legal.
University of Florida IFAS Extension FA236: Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) aquaculture · FishBase: Arapaima gigas summary · Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): Arapaima gigasWild hatch time of 4-5 days (hobby reference citing Goulding) supports legacy 5 days; the UF/IFAS 18-24 h figure applies to removed, artificially incubated egg masses.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): Arapaima gigas · University of Florida IFAS Extension FA236: Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) aquaculture · FishBase: Arapaima gigas summaryAppendix II does not restrict trade to farmed fish as the legacy text says; it requires CITES export permits (wild-caught trade is possible in principle if a non-detriment finding is made).
FishBase: Arapaima gigas summary · University of Florida IFAS Extension FA236: Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) aquaculture · Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): Arapaima gigasBecause the CITES listing names A. gigas, the other revalidated species may not be covered (Stewart & Castello proposed listing the whole genus, per Practical Fishkeeping 2009). The hobby reference says it cannot legally be exported from Brazil (undated, not checked). US federal and state rules were not checked.
FishBase: Arapaima gigas summary · University of Florida IFAS Extension FA236: Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) aquaculture · Castello & Stewart 2010, J. Appl. Ichthyol. 26: Assessing CITES non-detriment findings procedures for Arapaima in BrazilLegacy story already says it is unsuitable for any home aquarium.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): Arapaima gigas · FishBase: Arapaima gigas summary