Deep in the vast rivers and flooded forests of the Amazon Basin, there lives a fish that appears to be prehistoric in both size and appearance. The arapaima, also called the “pirarucu,” is one of the ...

Smaller fish species are more nutritious, lower in mercury and less susceptible to overfishing, a Cornell-led research team has found. The team's study was conducted in the Amazon River, but the ...

A mass fish die-off in Brazil’s Amazon River region has killed an estimated 20-30 metric tons of fish and other aquatic animals, following one of the worst droughts in Amazonian history. On the night ...

South America is home to the highest freshwater fish biodiversity on Earth, and the hotspot of species richness is located in the western Amazon basin. The location of this hotspot is enigmatic, as it ...

In a groundbreaking expedition, researchers from Harvard and Amazonas State University began monitoring water quality and mercury contamination in the Amazon Basin’s largest tributary. The Madeira ...

A flash of pink breaks the muddy surface of the Amazon River as scientists and veterinarians, waist-deep in the warm current, patiently work a mesh net around a pod of river dolphins. They draw it ...

The Amazon River begins as capillaries of water trickling down the eastern slopes of the Andes. The waters flow, gathering sediments, nutrients and organic material, braiding into a vast hydrologic ...