According to a news release from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, a new species of giant air-breathing fish has been discovered in Brazil.

“Everybody for 160 years had been saying there’s only one kind of arapaima. But we know now there are various species, including some not previously recognized. Each of these unstudied giant fishes needs conservation assessment,” said Dr. Donald Stewart of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, in a statement.

According to Stewart, arapaima are extremely important to the commercial fishing industry that thrives in the freshwaters of the Amazon.

In the mid-1800s, four species of arapaima were identified. However, in 1868, Albert Günther, a scientist at the British Museum of Natural History, said that those were all one species, known as Arapaima gigas. Günther’s opinion eventually became the accepted view among scientists.

“Until this year, no taxonomist has questioned Günther’s opinion about these iconic fishes,” Stewart noted.

Stewart had a specific reason for taking a second look at Günther’s view.

“If you’re going to do conservation biology, you have to be sure about the taxonomy of the animals being studied,” he said. “If each study area has a different species, then results from one area should not be applied to manage populations in the next area.”

Stewart arrived at the conclusion that all four of those originally identified species were, in reality, different after examining scientific literature dating back to the 19th century, as well the original specimens kept at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. The fifth species of arapaima was discovered as Stewart studied preserved arapaima at the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia.

The new species of giant air-breathing fish has its own individual characteristics, including the shape of sensory cavities on the head, a sheath that hides part of the dorsal fin and a unique color pattern.

“Failure to recognize that there are multiple species has consequences that are far reaching,” Stewart posited. “For example, there is a growing aquaculture industry for arapaima, so they are being moved about and stocked in ponds for rearing. Eventually pond-reared fishes escape and, once freed, the ecological effects are irreversible. A species that is endangered in its native habitat may become an invasive species in another habitat. The bottom line is that we shouldn’t be moving these large, predatory fishes around until the species and their natural distributions are better known. Given the uncertainties, precaution is needed.”

The study’s findings are described in greater detail in the journal “Copeia.”

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