Osteoglossum ferreirai Kanazawa, 1966
Species overview
Large fish, in outer appearence very similar to Osteoglossum bicirrhosum, see there.
Size observed: about 60 cm.
Taxonomic description
See description of Osteoglossum bicirrhosum. Main difference seems to be the coloration, in particular of the juveniles. In O. ferreirai back, belly and anal fin are dark, getting lighter with growth, and a wide white line along the flanks, which disappears later. On the head a dark line runs horizontally across the eye and merges in a dark crescent on the opercle, followed by a white crescent along the opercular cleft. With age these characters get weaker until the fish is hardly to by separated from the other species, which, at least in juveniles, has a dark perpendicular bar across the eye. According to Nelson (1994: 91) the common name of O. ferreirai is "black aruana" or arawana in contrast to "silver aruana" of O. bicirrhosum.
Type locality
Not known.
Distribution
Tropical South America, not exactly known.