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Catfish Central
The Amazon is the catfish capitol of
the world! No river system, anywhere in the world, is as rich in
catfish as the Amazon basin. It is estimated that over 2500 different
species of fish occur in the Amazon. Amazingly, almost half of them
are catfish! The order Siluriformes, or catfish, is the second most
diverse and probably the most spectacular order of Amazon fishes.
With 14 families, including over 1200 species, Amazon catfish not only
dominate the Amazon, but they account for almost half of all the catfish
species in the world. Ranging in size from the tiny, 2cm candiru
to the gigantic, 3 meter long Brachyplatystoma, or 'piraiba', these
fishes occupy tremendously diverse ecological niches. Some are bottom
dwellers, some nocturnal. Some are parasites and some are roving
predators. Some are completely scaleless while others are heavily covered
with bony armor plates.
The dense, inaccessible Amazon jungles have kept many species from the
prying eyes and curious
At 295 pounds, this piraiba is the largest
catfish ever caught on rod and reel.
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observation of man, leaving the biological
and ecological aspects of these siluriformes poorly known. Many species
are yet to be discovered. The worldwide angling community has, so
far, seen nothing like these catfish. Someone had better make room
in the record books for a half-dozen Brazilian species ranging up to and
well over the 100 pound plus category. These giants all belong to
the Family Pimelodidae. Acute Angling's clientele has already set
new world records for the piraiba, with a 295 pound monster, for the jau
with a 109 pound specimen, and for the jundira, in two high gradient Amazon
rivers. There are many angling records waiting to be set in Brazil
and, as big as these behemoths get, they won't be set by "noodlers"!
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