All fish / Cynodontidae

Payara

Hydrolycus scomberoides

Also known as vampire fish, vampire tetra, sabre-tooth tetra, dracula fish, payara vampire fish, scomberoides payara, ปลาแวมไพร์, ハイドロリカス・スコンベロイデス, ペーシュカショーロ, ikan vampir, 大马哈鱼, 吸血鬼鱼

A long, silvery predatory characin best known for the two huge fang-like teeth in its lower jaw that slot into sockets in the upper jaw. It is kept by specialist monster-fish keepers who want an impressive, fast-swimming Amazonian predator.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Aggressive

Adult size

60 cm

Temperature

24 to 30 °C

pH

6 to 7.5

Smallest tank

3000 litres

Keep as

Singly or in a small group in a very large system

Diet

Carnivore: live and whole dead fish, prawns, mussel and large pellets once weaned

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

10 to 20 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Amazon basin (Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia)

Breeding

It has not been bred in home aquariums; in the wild it spawns during the rainy season migration. All trade specimens are wild caught.

Good to know

Grows to 60 cm or more in captivity and over 1 m in the wild, needs strong current and an enormous tank, and will eat any fish it can swallow. It is skittish and easily injures itself on glass, and some countries restrict import of large predatory fish.