Payara

Payara
at Toba Aquarium, Japan
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Family: Cynodontidae
Genus: Hydrolycus
Species:
H. scomberoides
Binomial name
Hydrolycus scomberoides
(Cuvier, 1819)
Synonyms
  • Hydrocyon scomberoides Cuvier, 1819
  • Cynodon pectoralis Günther, 1866

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.