Coppename River, Suriname fish

There are estimated to be 300 species of fish in the Coppename River. There are certainly species that have not been described yet. Some of the most interesting fish are the ones that everyone has heard about: piranhas and electric eels.

piranha teeth

“If You Could See What Was In this River

You Wouldn’t Swim Here”

That is what a guide told my father. You cannot see into the water because it is cloudy. The fish use their sense of smell, electrical current or pressure sensors to locate their prey

There are lots of fish in the river; some of them are piranhas. The piranha is probably the most dangerous fish in the river because it eats almost anything. It is very attracted to blood so before you go swimming make sure you don’t having any cuts. Many piranhas will be attracted to the scent as they are schooling fish. They have very sharp teeth and can bite off a finger or rip holes in your legs.

OMAR, January 2004

Next Esi will write about electric eels.

Electric eel head and tail

freshwater stingray

This is a freshwater stingray. The picture was taken in a place where it was muddy. The ray is very well camouflaged against the bottom. It has little spiky stingers at the end of the tail that hurt very badly when whipped at you. People are most stungly on their legs when they mistakenly step on the rays especially when walking on the sandy bottoms that rays prefer. YEEEOOOOWWWW!

In the middle of the Central Suriname Nature Reserve, Amazonia, South America