Arapaima agassizii is a species of freshwater fish endemic to Brazil. It is a member of the arapaimas, a genus of air-breathing fish that contains some of the world's largest freshwater fish.[2]

Arapaima agassizii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Osteoglossiformes
Family: Osteoglossidae
Genus: Arapaima
Species:
A. agassizii
Binomial name
Arapaima agassizii
(Valenciennes, 1847)
Synonyms
  • Vastres agassizii Valenciennes, 1847

It is known only from a single now-lost holotype collected between 1817 and 1820 from an unspecified region in the lowlands of the Brazilian Amazon, and an 1847 description by Achille Valenciennes, based on notes & illustrations of the specimen made by Johann Baptist von Spix and Louis Agassiz in 1829. The holotype skeleton was kept at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology and destroyed during World War II, but the species was redescribed in a 2013 review of wild-caught Arapaima specimens worldwide on the basis of Valenciennes' description, with the review finding sufficient morphological evidence that A. agassizii is distinct from all other species of arapaima.[1][3][4]

Due to the lack of knowledge about the origins of the specimen and the present status of the species, it is classified as data deficient by the IUCN Red List.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Frederico, R.G. (2022). "Arapaima agassizii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T162701374A162701424.
  2. ^ "Arapaima agassizii". www.fishbase.se. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
  3. ^ Stewart, Donald J. (2013-03-27). "Re-description of Arapaima agassizii (Valenciennes), a Rare Fish from Brazil (Osteoglossomorpha: Osteoglossidae)". Copeia. 2013 (1): 38–51. doi:10.1643/ci-12-013. ISSN 0045-8511. S2CID 84207464.
  4. ^ Communications, ESF Office of. "Stewart: 'Conventional Wisdom' Threatens Giant Fishes". SUNY-ESF. Retrieved 2023-01-08.