Knowra Tambaqui Tambaqui Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) is a large freshwater fish native to the Amazon and Orinoco basins. It eats fruits and seeds as well as aquatic foods, and is widely farmed for food.
Characiformes : An order of mostly freshwater fishes that includes tetras, piranhas, and many South American food fishes. Tambaqui belongs to this diverse fish order.
Seed dispersal : The movement of seeds away from parent plants, enabling plant reproduction and colonization. Tambaqui can carry swallowed seeds away from the trees that produced them.
Aquaculture : The cultivation of aquatic organisms, including fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. Tambaqui is one of the major freshwater species raised in South American aquaculture.
Black pacu : A South American freshwater fish, Piaractus brachypomus, also called pirapitinga. It is a close food-fish relative often compared with tambaqui.
Serrasalmidae : A family of South American freshwater fishes that includes pacus, piranhas, and silver dollars. This family places tambaqui among its close relatives.
Flood pulse concept : A model describing how recurring river floods connect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and shape their productivity. Rising and falling waters alter tambaqui's access to food and habitat.
Fish farming : The breeding and rearing of fish under managed conditions for food or other uses. Farm production supplies tambaqui to markets beyond wild fisheries.
Red-bellied piranha : A schooling South American fish, Pygocentrus nattereri, known for powerful jaws and a diet including animal matter. Its reputation contrasts with the fruit-eating habits associated with tambaqui.
Amazon River : The largest river system by discharge, draining much of northern South America into the Atlantic Ocean. Its basin contains much of tambaqui's native range.
Phytoplankton : Microscopic photosynthetic organisms that drift in aquatic environments. Plant-like plankton can supplement tambaqui's diet, especially at early life stages.
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