Arapaimidae

Mapa Arapaima

Arapaima mapae

• Tropical
• Southern Hemisphere
• Regional distribution
• Freshwater fish
• South America
• Large
• Tropical fish

Arapaima mapae is a species of freshwater fish endemic to Brazil, where it is known only from Lago do Amapá in Amapá State. It is a member of the arapaimas, a genus of air-breathing fish that contains some of the world's largest freshwater fish. It is known only from a single holotype collected in 1837, which was purchased by a French army officer from an indigenous trader in French Guiana, and later described as a new species by Achille Valenciennes.