I only have a few fish that I think would fit in tanks around the size of the exhibits already ingame (most of which are South American and all are river-inhabiting species):
1. Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon innesi) [DD] - A pretty little fish from the Amazon basin, one of the few fish commonly kept as pets that I think would fit within the game due to it's stunning appearance. The only issue is probably their size (they're really small, even for exhibit standards).
2. Red-Bellied Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) [DD] - A no brainer for this kind of concept. Piranhas are some of the most infamous fish out there, despite not deserving their reputation. The Red-Bellied species just so happens to be the most recognisable (and my personal favourite).
3. Freshwater Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) [DD] - The most common species of it's genus in the aquarium trade. They're also very pretty. (Can be interchangeable with the Altum Angelfish, another species in the same genus, just exclusive to the Orinoco)
4. Electric Eel (Electrophorus electricus) [LC] - I can't really articulate the words on this one, but other people have made decent points for it's inclusion.
5. Banded Archerfish (Toxotes jaculatrix) [LC] - A unique type of fish I included on the list to boost Australasian representation on the list.
6. Glass Catfish (Kryptopterus vitreolus) [DD] - A cool see-through fish from Asian rivers. I don't know if it's possible to do see-through animals within the confines of the game though, so this might be off limits.
7. Red-Tailed Black Shark (Epalzeorhynchos bicolor) [CR] - Unrelated to actual sharks, the Red-Tailed Black Shark are fairly common in the aquarium trade despite being critically endangered in the wild.
8. Clown Loach (Chromobotia macracanthus) [LC] - Literally just here because I think they look pretty.
9. Australian Lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) [EN] - A unique type of fish from Oceania that is also endangered! A win-win for it's potential inclusion!
Now, I know a lot of that list is from fish commonly kept as pets, so I thought that I'd spice it up with some larger species that might require something a bit different (unless the aquarium system is completely new and can accommodate these species as well):
1. Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula) [LC] - A large and ancient predator of the river systems it inhabits the alligator gar... is really cool. I just really like this fish, that's my reasoning.
2. Giant Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) [DD] - One of the largest freshwater fish in the world, the arapaima is an obvious pick if we're going to talk about bigger fish. They're massive, gorgeous, and would go wonderfully well in an Amazon themed part of a zoo (especially in an indoor aquarium section, obviously).
3. Redtail Catfish (Phractocephalus hemioliopterus) [DD] - This one's just here to complement the Arapaima, still beautiful in it's own right though.
4. Black Pacu (Colossoma macropomum) [DD] - Same reasoning as the Redtail Catfish above.
5. Asian Arowana (Scleropages formosus) [EN] - A vibrant and endangered predatory fish. I think we can all agree that this is the most appealing species of arowana.
6. Sturgeon (Family: Acipenseridae) [LC-CR] - I honestly don't mind what species we get, but I feel like sturgeon would make a lot of sense from the perspective of conservation. So many species are either endangered or critically endangered!
7. American Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) [VU] - Probably the fish I'm most divided on, mainly because I don't know how many are in captivity. Although, I do think they should get in, both to accompany the Alligator gar and because of how unique they are (especially now that the Chinese Paddlefish is extinct).
They are many other types of animals that could fit in here as well (Manatees, Axolotls, Turtles etc.), but I know that this thread is purely for fish so I'll keep tight-lipped on that until some other thread pops up on the topic
Well... Let the comments flow!
