Gilded Catfish

Gilded Catfish (Zungaro zungaro) is a giant catfish species from the Orinoco and Amazon basins. You are most likely to encounter it in main river beds with swift currents, although it is often seen in seasonally flooded areas and on the muddy bottom. These fish have elongated grayish-yellow dappled bodies with a large dorsal fin and pale belly. Like many catfish species, they have long barbels. They tend to hunt at nighttime. Large specimens are quite common and can reach up to 2 m in length and some 80 kg in weight. Active predators and carrion eaters, these species eat small-sized fish and invertebrates, but also don’t mind nibbling on rotting meat.