Arapaima mapae (Valenciennes, 1847)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Arapaima mapae is a species of freshwater fish endemic to Brazil, where it is known only from Lago do Amapá in Amapá State.
It is a member of the arapaimas, a genus of air-breathing fish that contains some of the world's largest freshwater fish. It is known only from a single holotype collected in 1837, which was purchased by a French army officer from an indigenous trader in French Guiana, and later described as a new species by Achille Valenciennes. A 2013 review of wild-caught Arapaima specimens worldwide found sufficient morphological evidence to classify it as a distinct species.
There have been no efforts to rediscover the species and assess the status of the population; for this reason, it is classified as data deficient on the IUCN Red List. However, potential threats to this species include overfishing, habitat degradation, and the introduction of alien arapaima species.
Wikipedia contributors, Arapaima mapae; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:03:25.594317+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Arapaima mapae (Valenciennes, 1847)
- Name authority
- (Valenciennes, 1847)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Osteoglossiformes
- Family
- Arapaimidae
- Genus
- Arapaima
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderOsteoglossiformes
- familyArapaimidae Bonaparte, 1846
- genusArapaima Müller, 1843
- speciesArapaima mapae (Valenciennes, 1847)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Arapaima. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Arapaima leptosoma Stewart, 2013 | ArapaimidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Vastres mapae Valenciennes, 1847 Valenciennes, 1847 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1460856 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:G5TQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.