Fish of this genus are widely distributed in South America, ranging from the Orinoco basin in Venezuela to the Rio de la Plata river system in Argentina.

HABITS:

Tambaqui live in the turbid waterways and tributaries of the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. The species generally stays in deeper waters, rarely being encountered in shallow zones. Juveniles are omnivorous, eating fruits, seeds, and zooplankton. The immature tambaqui can filter phytoplankton through special gills containing long, fine gillrakers. Adults are exclusively fruigivorous. Adult tambaqui feed primarily on fruits and seeds when the rivers flood. The fishes focus on a few select species of plants during the wet season, most of which are abundant and widely dispersed. Common foods include the seeds of the rubber tree and the palm tree fruit. The tambaqui apparently waits under the source plant to catch falling fruits and seeds at the water surface.

SPAWNING:

Tambaqui are migratory in their spawning, moving upstream to reproduce. Artificial reproduction is hormone-induced, and is carried out in several government hatcheries in the Amazon basin.

GROWTH:

The tambaqui is the largest characin in the Amazon. Adult tambaqui can reach sizes of 1m and 30kg.

USES:

Tambaqui is an extremely important food fish for people along the Amazon. In 1979 the Brazilian quota exceeded 3500 tonnes. The seasonal nature of the catch creates a long period in which demand for this fish is not met. The fish itself is said to have a "delightful, fruity taste" putting it in demand across South America. Fortunately, the fish's vegetarianism and quick growth lend itself to fish farming, which may well prove extremely productive in the near future.

CULTURE:

The genus Colossoma, and in particular the tambaqui, has been recognized as an excellent candidate for aquaculture development. Research on the culture of tambaqui has been conducted in several countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela, with promising results. Preliminary pond production trials with tambaqui have been very encouraging, with extrapolated production yields ranging from 6 to 9 t/ha/year being reported. The potential of cage culture of tambaqui within Latin America may hold particular promise in view of the existence of extensive water bodies within the interior, provided there is development of an effective technology. Feed is one of the main constraints to the development of a sound culture technology, particularly in an intensive system like cage culture, where it will have a major effect on growth and may represent 50% or more of the production costs.

REFERENCES:

Lundberg, J. G., Machado-Allison, A., and Kay, R. F. 1986. Miocene characid fishes from Colombia: evolutionary stasis and extirpation. Science 234:208-209.

Merola, N. and Cantelmo, O. A. 1987. Growth, feed conversion and mortality of cage-reared tambaqui, Colossoma macropomum, fed various dietary feeding regimes and protein levels. Aquaculture 66: 223-233.

Merola, N, and de Souza, J. H. 1988. Cage culture of the Amazon fish tambaqui, Colossoma macropomum, at two stocking densities. Aquaculture 71: 15-21.

Roubach, R. and Saint-Paul, U. 1993. Use of fruits and seeds from Amazonian inundated forests in feeding trials with Colossoma macropomum (Cuvier, 1818) (Pisces, Characidae). Journal of Applied Ichthyology 10:134-140.