Catfish, Pirariba

The Pirariba Catfish is one of the largest catfish species in the world and is also known as the Goliath Catfish. This gigantic shark-like Catfish species is indigenous to the River Amazon and Orinoco Rivers and surrounding waters where it is known locally as the Lau Lau.
The Pirariba Catfish has a fearsome reputation with unsubstantiated reports of this species feeding on all manner of creatures, even reputedly humans!
The predatory Pirariba Catfish favours fast ,wild waters with a soft sandy substrate and has been recorded at depths of up to 130 feet where it voraciously scavenges on all manner of aquatic creatures such as Piranha and crustaceans with wild cats and even monkeys being part of this huge opportunistic catfishes diet.
Pirariba Catfish are equipped with long maxillary barbels which allow them to actively seek out prey in the murky waters that they inhabit. These sensory barbels make the Pirariba Catfish a perfect nocturnal predator equally efficient in both day or night.
The Pirariba is equipped with a large gaping mouth which easily can easily engulf unsuspecting prey fish.
Pirariba display a darker dorsal side of dark grey coloration giving way to a much lighter white coloration on its abdomen making them extremely hard to see by unsuspecting prey.
The Pirariba Catfish has a mysterious milk gland located at the anterior of its pectoral fins which function is still unknown to science.
This Goliath Catfish has been recorded at colossal weights up to 450 lbs in its native habitat and more recently has been imported into Thai commercial fisheries such as Palm Tree Lagoon at comparatively low weights upto 10 kgs.
It is assumed that the Pirariba will thrive in the tropical waters of Thailand and will in time reach gigantic weights as it has in its natural range of the Amazon basin.