"giant catfish that eats monkeys"

[papawoody]

yahoo front page has this article about new species found in the amazon . i searched the phrase and found a picture of what looks like a piraiba , same species featured on river monsters etc ...
... is there really some new species discovered or is this just b.s. media hype ?
i say hype based on photo...

yahoo - http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101026/ts_afp/unenvironmentbiodiversityamazonwwf_20101026105020

link with catfish photo - http://news.ninemsn.com.au/glanceview/130588/bizarre-species-found-in-amazon.glance

 

[kevinfleming21]

that ghost knife was nuts!

 

[Oddball]

Looks like Brachyplatystoma filamentosum (Paraiba) to me.

 

[Cakilla]

Thats what I was thinking also but not sure where they got the idea its a new species ....

Looks like Brachyplatystoma filamentosum (Paraiba) to me.

 

[JC_P]

Conclusion to reading that article. I doubt it actually eats live monkeys, it's more believable that the catfish ate the remains of what piranhas might have left behind. Catfish are not known for eating mamals although possible, piranhas on the other hand are proven to do just that.

 

[manlyfish]

the news is always saying somethings new...new to them not to us

 

[Warborg]

Now we will see about 20 threads on this like the Panaque one

 

[cichlid2006]

it is a paraiba and it's not new to science. It has been known for at least a couple of years as it was featured on river monsters.

 

[NCStateFisher]

catfish will eat anything they can fit in their mouth... if a monkey fell into the current there's no doubt in my mind it would eat it without thinking about it

 

[JC_P]

catfish will eat anything they can fit in their mouth... if a monkey fell into the current there's no doubt in my mind it would eat it without thinking about it

I don't doubt it completely, it's just highly unlikely. Aside from that the article states that there where pieces not a whole monkey, meaning more likely remains if anything.