Golden Dorado Salminus brasiliensis/(maxillosus)

Freshwater "Dorados", Salminus genus, are not related to the marine fish of that name nor to salmon but are predatory piscivorous characins native to central and east-central South America.

The Golden Dorado is so named as the older adults take on a gold body glow, but juveniles and young adults have a silvery body, all with black spots arranged in narrow lines, reddish or goldish fins and a black central line through the tail. One of the largest scaled fish in its region, it grows to some 60-100cm long.

It is native to warm fresh waters of southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and northern Argentina. The Golden Dorado is threatened by overfishing and by dams which restrict breeding migration.

All the Salminus genus are large, predatory fish. S. franciscanus of São Francisco river basin, Brazil looks remarkably similar, as does S. hilarii. The fish mimic the peaceful, herbivorous, silvery Brycon so they can get close to their prey including the visually similar Brycon hilarii which grows to half a metre long (and which has a longer black caudal bar extending to the body).

The predatory but smaller Red-tailed Barracuda (not related to marine barracudas but with a similar long, aerodynamic shape and narrow snout full of sharp teeth) of the Amazon and Orinoco Basins can also look similar, mimicking Brycons.