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Cascarudo (Hoplosternum littorale)
Photo: Cláudio Dias Timm (CC BY-SA)
🐟 Native species of the Iberá

Cascarudo

Hoplosternum littorale

The armoured fish that breathes air and builds floating foam nests. Its bony plates are a miniature suit of medieval armour.

Two rows of bony plates cover its body like chain mail. When the water runs out of oxygen it rises and gulps air, which it processes in its gut: that is how it survives where other fish cannot. In spring it builds floating nests of foam and plants, visible from the walkways.

Behaviour

A bottom dweller, it stirs the mud with its barbels in search of invertebrates. The male builds and guards the foam nest.

How and when to see it

Spring and summer, when the floating foam nests give it away in marshes and vegetated edges.

Where to see it in the Iberá

The gateways of the Great Iberá Park where cascarudo has confirmed presence:

Tours to see it

Verified providers operating at the gateways where cascarudo lives. You contact them directly on WhatsApp from the app.

Species profile

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