How many fishes are there in the Amazon river?

The Amazon is considered the single river basin that contains the greatest number of freshwater fish species in the entire world, which is more than 5,600 species. This amazing Amazon river also has about 1,100 tributaries and 17 of those are more than 1,000 miles long. This makes for a vast amount of land coverage and water flow and contains so many fishes.

Here are some of the most well known species of fish in the Amazon river: The Arapaima (Arapaima gigas), Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum), Candiru (Vandellia cirrhosa), Red-bellied Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri), Armored Catfish, Electric Eel (Electrophorus electricus), Pancake Stingrays, and the Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas). Several of these are extremely poisonous and deadly. If they feel they are in danger, they will respond in self-defense and attack.