Hoplias curupira

The Hoplias curupira lives in the benthopelagic, freshwater environment.

The hoplias curupira is a fish that lives in the rivers of South America countries of Brazil, Guyana, Surinam, and Venezuela. These rivers are the Amazon, Tocantins, Xingu, and the Negro Rivers in Brazil. The fish also live in the Orinoco River and coastal rivers of Guyana and Surinam. These river basins are filled with trees, animals, birds, turtles, and insects. Fossils of the hoplias curupira have been found going back to the Jurassic era. The fish has been recently discovered living in the rivers. They are indigenous to South America.

The hoplias curupiras are meat eaters with sturdy teeth. The fish are observed in duos. They live at the bottom of unplumbed rivers. The fish are active day and night. The hoplias curupira eat sundry insects, immature bugs, small fish, crustaceans, prawns, worms, and fruit. They are harmless to people.

The hoplias curupira varies from other fish of the same genus, the hoplias. They have a duct on the underside of the fish's jaw containing sense organs. The fish's head and body are dark brown. The front of the head is rotund in silhouette when seen indirectly.

The hoplias curupiras are classified as ray finned. The flippers are sectioned and are pliant and resilient. The flippers don't have spines within them.

The hoplias curupiras are smaller, have a rotund muzzle, and sideway scales numbering up to thirty-nine. At its largest size, the fish measures fifteen to sixteen inches or 38.1 to 40.64 centimeters.

The hoplias curupira is endangered by the destruction of its natural habitat in the Amazon River basin.

Some of the predators of the hoplias curupira are the piranha, jaguar, puma, ocelot, and vultures.

The hoplias curupira is a remnant of an ancient fish like the coelacanth. It is an enigma of life on earth.

Order : Characiformes
Family : Erythrinidae
Genus : Hoplias
Species : Hoplias curupira
Authority : Oyakawa & Mattox, 2009