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Asian arowana — printable fact sheet
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Asian arowana
Scleropages formosus
The Asian arowana is the most expensive aquarium fish in the world, and the reason is entirely cultural rather than biological: its large metallic scales, barbels and sinuous swimming resemble a Chinese dragon, and it is prized in Chinese communities as a bringer of wealth and a…
Did you know?
- The Asian arowana is so protected that international trade is strictly regulated by CITES, and each permitted aquarium specimen is microchipped for identification.
- A trade this lucrative has produced genuinely bizarre practices, including cosmetic surgery on high-value fish — eye-lift procedures for drooping eyes, and chin corrections. The bony tongue for which the family Osteoglossidae is named is a toothed plate that bites against the roof of the mouth. Wild Asian arowana are now scarce in their native Southeast Asian blackwater rivers, while farmed ones number in the millions.
What I learned
Draw the asian arowana
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