Arowana
The Arowana is a freshwater bony fish also known as Bonytongues, Water Monkeys and Dragon Fish. There are ten described living species: three from South America, one from Africa, four from Asia, and the remaining two from Australia.
The Arowana has a bony head and an elongated body that is covered by large, heavy scales with a mosaic pattern of canals. The dorsal and the anal fins have long soft rays and and the pectoral and ventral fins are small. The name “Bonytongues” is derived from a toothed bone on the floor of the mouth, the “tongue”, equipped with teeth that bite against teeth on the roof of the mouth. These fish can grown to 2 to 3 feet in length.
Arowana are carnivorous predatory fish. They will often feed off the upper surface of the water by jumping or leaping out of the water. They are excellent jumpers; it has been reported that Arowana Fish have been seen leaping more than 6 feet from the water surface to pick off insects and birds from overhanging branches in South America, hence the nickname “Water Monkeys”.
Their name comes from an Indonesian word, meaning “fish of paradiseâ€.
Information courtesy of wikipedia.org, aquaticcommunity.com
Photo courtesy of wikimedia.commons.org