SPECIES ARE DIVERSIFIED

The surveys carried out before the formation of the reservoir indicated which the five most common species caught in the fishing practised in the Paraná River between Guaíra and Foz do Iguaçu:

1º) Cascudo-preto - 22 %
2º) Dourado - 17 %
3º) Pacu- 13 %
4º) Jaú - 10 %
5º) Pintado 9 %

After the formation of the lake, the most frequently caught fish species became:

1º) Armado - 38 %, close to 550 tons/year
2º) Corvina - 15 %, close to 210 tons/year
3º) Mapará - 13 % close to 180 tons/year
4º) Curimba - 8 % close to 105 tons/year
5º) Barbado - 5 % close to 60 ttons/year

Of these species, only the corvina is not native to the Paraná River. It was introduced some years back into the reservoirs of other hydroelectric power plants located upstream of Itaipu and eventually colonized other areas of this Basin.

Know the principal species

Armado (Pterodoras granulosos)

One of the principal characteristics of this fish are the aculeus (thorns in the shape of butterfly wings it possesses on each side of its body). It is of brownish colour, can reach a meter in length and weigh 8 kilos. Omnivorous, it eats almost everything if finds, from vegetables to insects.

Cascudo-preto (Rhinelepis aspera)

Lives on rocky bottoms and feeds on the slime it finds on the stones. It can reach more than 55 centimeters in length and weigh five kilos. It is characterised by the slender body, armoured in bony plates, and by its large head.

Mapará ou Sardela (Hypophthalmus edentatus)

Also occurs in the Amazon Basin. Feeds on plankton and its meat is much appreciated. The blue-grey colour of its back gives off metallic reflections. It can weigh up to two kilos and measure 60 centimeters.

Corvina (Plagioscion squamosissimus)

Reaches more than five kilos and 65 centimeters in length. Its meat is well accepted on the market. Originally from the Amazon Basin, the species was introduced into the Paraná Basin by the reservoirs of the power plants above Itaipu. It feeds on small fishes, crustaceans and insects.

Curimba (Prochilodus lineatus)

Its average weight is around two kilos and it measures up to 50 centimeters. The males differ from the females through being more slender. This fish basically feeds on organic sediments on the bottom of the reservoir. A migratory species, it commences to reproduce upon attaining 30 centimeters.

Dourado (Salminus maxillosus)

Is considered a magnificent fish due to its yellow-orange-golden colouring. Carnivorous and voracious, it is known in the region by the sport-fishermen as the "tiger of the Paraná", due to the manner in which it fights after being hooked. Its meat is one of the most appreciated. At 25 years of age, it can reach 1.20 meters in length and a weight of 30 kilos. It is more frequently found in the region of Guairá. The first historical reference to the existence of the dourado dates from 1542. It was mentioned by the explorer, Alvar Nuñes Cabeza de Vaca, the discoverer of the Iguaçu Falls.