Amazon River Monsters

The Amazon rainforest is a complete ecosystem. There you will find various species of hundreds of living creatures. From the wonderful jaguar to the poison dart frog, and from Jesus lizard to the black caiman. The Amazon forest is the home of many creatures.

In this article, we will discuss some of the amazing Amazon River animals.

1. Black Caiman

A black caiman is actually an alligator, which is the largest predator of the Amazon ecosystem. The caimans are also known as Amazon River crocodiles. They are one of the most dangerous Amazon River monsters living in the river. These alligators can grow up to 20 feet (six meters). Their skulls are bigger and heavier than the ones of crocodiles of the river Nile.

You can call black caiman the king of the river. It eats almost everything it can reach – from piranhas to monkeys, from small fish to anaconda.

2. Arapaima

Arapaima is an important part of the Amazon River wildlife. It is also known as paiche or  the “dragon fish”. These are the gigantic carnivorous fish, which live in the river of Amazon and its surrounding lakes.

It is one of the biggest fish in the Amazon River and can reach a length of up to 2.7 meters or 9 feet. These fish usually weigh up to 200 lbs. or 90 kg.

Arapaima has armored scales on their body. They are effective predators living on fish and occasionally on birds as well.

These fishes need to breathe on the surface because of the oxygen they take up from water, and therefore, they live near the surface of the water.

3. Green Anaconda

One of the gigantic Amazon River monsters is the green anaconda. It is the largest snake in the world.

Although reticulated pythons are longer than anacondas, they are much heavier. A female anaconda, generally, is heavier and longer than its male partner – up to 250 kg (550 lbs.) and 9 meters (29 feet) in length. Their diameter could be as large as 30 cm (12 inches).

This Amazon River monster does not use its venom to kill its prey, instead, they suffocate their prey with their intensive muscular power. Anaconda attacks anything including capybara, caiman, deer, and even jaguars

The green anaconda prefers to live in the offshoots of Amazon, as they can sneak up easily on their prey from shallow waters.

4. Giant Otter

As the name suggests, these otters are very large. These are one of the biggest members of the weasel family, where males can grow up to 6 feet (or 2 meters) from their head to tail.

They mainly feed on crab and fish that is hunted in a family group of three to seven members. These otters can eat up to 4 kgs of seafood daily.

They might look cute and innocent to them, but you need to be careful near them, as groups of otters have been spotted attacking and killing an anaconda.

Another group of otters was seen attacking a caiman and eating it, which did not take more than 45 minutes. This is the reason these giant otters are also known as river wolves.

5. Bull Sharks

Did you know that you can find an Amazon river shark there as well?

Although bull sharks are technically salt-water animals, they can live easily in the freshwater as well.

This member of Amazon River wildlife has been found in the river of Amazon as far as Peru, which is 4000 km (2500 mi) away from the sea.

Usually, a bull shark can reach a length of 11 feet (3.3 meters). The heaviest shark in records has the weight of 312 kg (690 lbs.).

6. Red-Bellied Piranhas

Amazon River piranha is a scavenger and it is one of the most dangerous fish found in the river Amazon.

As they are a scavenger, they don’t attack healthy creatures. They are usually 30 cm (12 inches) long and swim in large groups.

They have powerful upper and lower jaws with a row of incredibly sharp teeth on both jaws. Because of these sharp teeth, red-bellied piranhas are also known as flesh-eating fish Amazon.

A group of piranhas can easily strip their prey in bones within a few minutes. However, such attacks are rare and are due to starvation or any kind of provocation.

Although a pack of piranhas is very dangerous, you cannot call them man-eating fish Amazon.

7. Vampire Fish of Amazon

Just like the scariness of any other thing named as a vampire, payara or the vampire fish Amazon is one of the most dangerous fish of the river Amazon.

They are furious predators with the ability to devour a fish up to the half size of their own. They can reach up to a length of 4 feet (1.2 meters).

They like to eat piranhas, and this is enough to give you an idea of their toughness.

They get the name of vampire fish of Amazon because of their two tusks sprouting from their lower jaws, which could be up to 6 inches long.

There are two special holes in their upper jaw to prevent an injury from their own tusks.

Amazon rainforest is known not only because of dangerous creatures. Its ecosystem is rich in various animals, which form the etire world of the River Amazon.