Marine Life of Amazon

The largest drainage basin the Amazon River is famous for being the largest river in world by volume. The Amazon River is also referred as The River Sea because o its huge dimension. Not even at a single point the river is crossed by the bridges and it remains surrounded by the Amazon Rainforest which begins from the eastern edge of the Andes. The Amazon is considered as the largest rainforest in world and holds a great ecological implication. The river basin is also important for supporting the marine life of Amazon. The rainforest of Amazon is supported by the extremely wet climate of the Amazon basin. The Amazon rainforest offers a unique biodiversity and is a home to at least 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and mammals.

The huge tropical forest and river basin of Amazon is stretched in an area of more than 2.1 million square miles serving as a home for more than one third of varied species from all over the world. The Amazon rainforest is also called as one of the richest tropical forest in the world. The river has more than 3,000 species of marine creatures especially the fishes this number is still growing fast. The number sometimes goes above 5,000. The Amazon River also supports a diverse wildlife that begins with the Orinoco. The river also serves as one of the main habitats of the Boto, which is also called as the Amazon River Dolphin. The largest species found in this river is the dolphin which can grow to height of more than 2.6 metres (9 ft).

The marine life of Amazon includes the famous fish species the Piranha, a carnivorous mammal found in the basin of Amazon. These fishes are usually found swimming in groups. This is a ferocious species and is often preferred to be seen from a distance as there always remains the possibility of them attacking livestock and even humans. In fact the ferocious Piranha is one important attribute to the marine life of Amazon. The ferocity of Piranha is also supported by the incident of death of more than 300 people when their boat capsized near í“bidos in 1981. Another species adding to the attraction of the marine life are the Bull Shark that has been reported 2,220 miles (4000 km) up the Amazon River at Iquitos in Peru. The Amazon basin is famous for marine species that are available in varied forms and are also unique at times. One other attraction of the marine life here is the Arapaima or pirarucu South American tropical freshwater fish. One of the largest freshwater fishes the Arapaima or pirarucu, is also known for its length which is somewhere at a length of more than of 3 m (9.8 ft.) and weight up to 200 kg (440 lb.).

The river also supports some other mammals and reptiles including thousands of species of fish, crabs, algea, and turtles. The marine life of Amazon also includes on of the largest species of the Anaconda snake found in the shallow water of the Amazon basin.

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