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Osteoglossum
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Osteoglossum

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Osteoglossum is a genus of fish in the family Osteoglossidae. They reach about in length and are restricted to freshwater habitats in tropical South America.

Species

GENUS

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassTeleostei
  4. OrderOsteoglossiformes
  5. FamilyOsteoglossidae
Habitatmarine, freshwater
Observations recorded1,051

Osteoglossum es un género de peces de agua dulce osteoglosiformes de la familia Osteoglossidae. Sus 2 especies habitan en aguas cálidas del norte de América del Sur (en la cuenca del río Amazonas), y son denominadas comúnmente arawanas.​

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
44
With media
3
Family
Osteoglossidae
Collections
UMMZ, CMC, TCWC, INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE PESQUISAS DA AMAZÔNIA (INPA), NHMUK, CUMV
Recorded in
Guyana, China, Brazil, Brasil, Indonesia, Paraguay, Marshall Islands

Wikidata facts

Instance of
taxon
Parent taxon
Osteoglossidae
Image
Osteoglossum bicirrhosum.JPG
Show 4 more facts
Commons category
Osteoglossum
taxon name
Osteoglossum
taxon rank
genus
topic's main category
Category:Osteoglossum
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~1 min read

Encyclopedic overview

2 sections
Contents
  • Species
  • References

Osteoglossum is a genus of fish in the family Osteoglossidae. They reach about in length and are restricted to freshwater habitats in tropical South America.

These predators mostly feed on arthropods like insects and spiders, but may also take small vertebrates such as other fish, frogs, lizards, snakes, mice, bats and small birds. They jump up to out of the water to pick the prey off branches, tree trunks or foliage, which has earned them the local name "water monkeys". They are the largest fish in the world that catch most of their food out of water. When breeding, the male protects the eggs and young by carrying them in the mouth.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Osteoglossum” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (4)