A powerful hunter constantly on the prowl for prey of opportunity, the silvery sabre-toothed species is famous for its distinctive lengthy fangs protruding from the lower jaw. Nicknamed the “vampire fish” by adventurous anglers, it swiftly impales smaller piranha, an aggressive relative, swallowing them whole in the swirling eddies and crashing currents of South America’s raging rivers.
The National Geographic channel’s host of the “Monster Fish” series, American Professor Zeb Hogan searched for the freshwater fish with the indigenous musical moniker, inland south-west Guyana. “We found the Payara just below the Corona Falls on the Rewa River,” a tributary of the Rupununi River. “It’s on the small side for mega-fish, at 40 pounds and four feet long,” he said, as the popular show prepared to premiere in January 2016.