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Arapaima Scales

Ondrej was itching to fish our legendary Arapaima Swim aka TopCats Swim No. 9

The swim did not disappoint as he caught three in the five-hour afternoon session. If you want to learn more, please click the link here.

Ondrej sent us some pics of his day and one of them was of the Arapaima scale

Did you know:

  • Arapaima are one the largest scaled fish in the world, hearsay says up to 15ft long in the wild
  • Their scales are one of the toughest flexible materials in the natural world.
  • They need to be, because if you lived in the piranha infested waters of the Amazon you would need protection.
  • The scales are two layered with an armoured top layer with a more flexible collagen composite below. This coupling of hard and soft layers is remarkably similar as to how body armour is designed. The American Airforce has spent a small fortune studying them and the scales of Alligator Gars, whose scales were used by native Americans to make arrow tips