Arowanas

Arowanas (also known as arawanas or aruanas) are freshwater bony fish of the Osteoglossidae family (Bonytongues). This family of fish have bony heads and scaly elongated bodies with a mosaic pattern of canals. The ventral and pectoral fins are small, whereas the anal fins and dorsals are long and have soft rays. The tongue has teeth on it that bite against the teeth at the roof of the mouth and that’s where the name “Bonytongue” originated.

Classifications
Osteoglossids are primitive fish. These are placed within the class of ray-finned fish, Osteoglossiformes. There are ten living species and they can be found in Asia (four), South America (three), Australia (two), and Africa (one).

Habits
Osteoglossids are a meat eating species, or carnivorous, and regarded as an expert surface feeder. Osteoglossum species are reported to have leaped above 6 feet from the water surface. These species are large but the world’s largest freshwater fish is the Arapaima, which is an obligatory air breather.

Folklore
Feng Shui uses Arowanas in order to bring good luck.

Extant Species
Osteoglossidae have two subfamilies and these are the Osteoglossinae and Heterotidinae. Under the Subfamily Osteoglossinae are Genus Osteoglossum and Genus Scleropages. In the Subfamily Heterotidinae are Genus Arapaima and Genus Heterotis.

Fossil Record
There are only a few known fossils dating back to the Late Cretaceous that were classified as Osteoglossids. These are the Genus Brychaetus, Genus Joffrichthys, and Genus Phareodus.

In the Aquarium
Arowanas are often paired with some semi-aggressive and well-matched fish that will not fit in their mouth like the jaguar cichlids, clown knifefish, and green terrors. Australian Arowanas are often kept individually in aquariums.