Fish Highlights of Iwokrama 

The waterways within and around the Iwokrama Forest are home to an extremely high diversity of fish. So far, 420 have been identified, an exceedingly high number even though only a small portion of the rivers have been surveyed. This has led to estimates of up to 600 species for the area. In comparison, there are only 700 species of fish in all of North America. For an area its size, Iwokrama Forest has the world's highest recorded fish diversity.

Cartabac

Myleus rubripinnis

There are two factors that could cause this elevated diversity. First there is the wide range of habitats represented within the area. Fish here have extensive choice of habitats, including flooded forests & savannahs, rivers, creeks, ponds and ox-bow lakes. This offers the opportunity for the development of different species.

The second factor is that the Essequibo River is situated between three major fish life regions: the Orinoco River, the eastern Guiana Shield, and Amazonia. Flooding during the annual high water periods enable an exchange in fish species between these three systems.

Bushy Nose

Ancistrus spp.

Some of the notable species found in the Forest...

• Worlds largest scaled freshwater fish, the Arapaima (Arapaima gigas)
• Silver Arowana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum)
• Common sport fish, Peacock Bass or Lukanani (Cichla ocellaris)
• Savage Red-Bellied Piranha (Pygocentrus natteri)
• Various freshwater stingrays (Potamotrygon spp.)
• Large catfish including the Piraíba or Lao Lao (Brachyplatystoma filamentosum)
• Electric Eel (Electrophorus electricus)
• and many colourful aquarium fish