You might remember this one from the recent Planet Earth TV series - Matt Clarke on the impressive looking Salminus brasiliensis.
Common name: Dorado
Scientific name: Salminus brasiliensis (Cuvier, 1816)
Origin: Museum records show that this species has been collected from Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia.
Size: This game fish reaches salmon-like proportions. Wild specimens reach up to 1m/39" and can weigh IGFA the record weight is 23kg/50 lbs.
Diet: Adults are almost exclusively piscivorous, but juveniles are said to also eat shrimp and insects. The juveniles I've kept before readily ate any frozen fish dropped into the tank. According to FishBase, water birds have also been revealed in stomach analyses.
Water: Soft, acidic water is found in their natural habitat, but they readily adapt to quite hard water and are easy to keep.
Aquarium: jjjj
Identification: jjjj
Notes: There are currently only three species in the Salminus genus: S. brasiliensis (maxillosus is a synonym), S. affinis and S. hilarii. S. brasiliensis is by far the biggest. S. affinis is believed to grow to only 10cm/4", while hilarii reaches reaches about 50cm/20".
Availability: These impressive fish were imported as Salminus maxillosus by Tom Halvorsen Ltd and were on sale at Wharf Aquatics in Nottinghamshire. The species has been available sporadically in the UK trade for at least 15 years.
Price: Expect to pay around **.** for one of these.