Payara: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Payara Hydrolycus scomberoides

Where the payara lives – recorded in 3 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Recorded in (GBIF)Representative wild record

Pin and shaded countries are approximate. The pin is a representative wild sighting (a central record among 1,172 open-licence GBIF records), not an official range. Method · Records on GBIF · See bony fish on the world map

Scientific name	Hydrolycus scomberoides
Group	Bony fish
Found in	3 countries
Continents	South America
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Characiformes
Family	Cynodontidae

Where does the payara live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the payara in 3 countries and territories across South America. Wikidata gives its range as: Itupiranga.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the payara?

The payara (Hydrolycus scomberoides) is a ray-finned fish in the order Characiformes and the family Cynodontidae, genus Hydrolycus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the payara

The payara (Hydrolycus scomberoides) is a species of dogtooth tetra. This predatory fish is found in the Amazon Basin in tropical South America. It was the first of four species to be described in the genus Hydrolycus.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Payara (revision 1335738601), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q737277 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).