Ripsaw catfish - Oxydoras niger

The Ripsaw catfish (or the Oxydoras Niger in latin) is a fish found in murky rivers and lakes. These catfish primarily live in the Amazon river and lakes but scientists have found that they also live along the east coast in South Africa as well. The Ripsaw can grow up to 39 inches and 29 pounds in the wild. They have special plates on the sides of their bodies that are very similar to sturgeon, these plates act like armors in self defense from predators. The Ripsaw has difficulty producing eggs because of it is hard for them to find mates due to the large size Amazon. When they do become pregnant, the females are around twenty one inches and produce around 250,000 eggs at a time. In the rainy season, these catfish move into bigger lakes off the Amazon river to feed on new fish populations. These fish are also very popular aquarium fish but often can be unmanageable because they can easily outgrow smaller tanks and will feed on the smaller fish in the tank.