10 Scariest Freshwater Animals

Piranha

Notorious for their sharp teeth and voracious appetites, piranhas inhabit several of the major river basins in South America. These omnivorous fish are known for their taste for meat, although attacks on human beings are quite rare, despite breathless accounts from early explorers.

In a historic visit to Brazil, Theodore Roosevelt famously saw a group of piranhas shredding pieces of a cow carcass in seconds. His dramatic account would color popular imagination for years, even though it was based on a manipulated spectacle in which fishermen blocked off a group of the fish and starved them beforehand.

Electric Eel 

Electra the electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) demonstrates her shocking power at Ford Motor Company's "Cycle of Production" exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Despite their name, electric eels are actually a type of knifefish and are more closely related to catfish than they are to true eels. These unusual fish inhabit waterways in the Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America, where they hunt prey and defend themselves by producing powerful bursts of electricity.
Electric eels gulp air from the surface in order to breathe. Thanks to specialized internal organs, they can produce pulses of electricity greater than 500 volts, with a current greater than one amp. That's enough to kill an adult human being.

Goliath Bird-Eater Spider

  

The second largest spider in the world, the goliath bird-eater (Theraphosa blondi), is related to the tarantula. It received its fearsome name after Victorian explorers witnessed one feasting on a hummingbird.

The big spiders inhabit marshy land in the rain forests of nothern South America, where they can grow to a leg span of up to 12 inches (30 cm) and can weigh more than 6 ounces (170 grams). As with many other spiders, females may eat the males after mating. Partially as a result, males have a lifespan of 3 to 6 years, while females have a lifespan of 15 to 25 years.

Tiger Fish

 

Widely distributed across much of Africa, tiger fish are fierce predators with large, razor-sharp teeth. They often hunt in packs and occasionally eat large animals. Attacks on human beings are rare but not unheard of.
The two largest species are the goliath tiger fish (Hydrocynus goliath) and the Hydrocynus vittatus, which is commonly called the tiger fish. Both are prized as game fish. The goliath tiger fish, which can reach sizes up to 110 pounds (50 kg), is found in the Congo River and Lake Tanganyika. The tiger fish can weigh up to 33 pounds (15 kg) and is found in the Zambezi River system.

Nile Crocodile

 A year-old Nile crocodile attempts to snap up a frog in the St. Lucia Estuary in South Africa (from the National Geographic book Visions of Earth). Also known as the common crocodile, these large reptiles are distributed across much of Africa, and they have earned their reputation as among the most ferocious, deadly animals on the planet.
Male crocs typically measure from 11.5 to 16 feet long (3.5 to 5 meters), but they have been known to exceed 18 feet (5.5 meters) in length. Individual crocodiles attack anything the same size or smaller than them. They are occasionally known to hunt in packs, in which they can take down animals as large as hippos and rhinos. Nile crocodiles occasionaly prey on human beings, with estimates ranging from several hundred to several thousand deaths a year.

Snakehead

Snakeheads are often feared in the West, where populations of the aggressive fish have occasionally taken root as invasive species. After a fisherman found a Northern snakehead (Channa argus) in a pond in Maryland, it caused a media sensation. Biologists warned that the large freshwater fish could readily become established in North America, where it could wreak havoc on native ecosystems.
The voracious top-level predators can reach a length of three feet (one meter). They prey on invertebrates, frogs, and smaller fish, though they are known to attack anything moving when they are breeding.

Mata Mata

 A mata mata (Chelus fimbriatus) is a freshwater turtle that inhabits the Amazon and Orinoco basins in South America. The bizarre turtles are entirely aquatic, although they prefer shallow, stagnant water, where they can easily reach their head out of water to breathe.
The mata mata can grow quite large, up to 33 pounds (15 kilograms). They feed on invertebrates and fish and aren't dangerous to people, despite their appearance.

Giant Catfish

Divers work with a model European catfish in the Great Lake at Ostersund in Sweden. Large catfish live in many rivers throughout the world, where they are important scavengers.
The largest on record is the Mekong giant catfish, which has reached recorded sizes up to 10.5 feet (3.2 meters) and 660 pounds (300 kilograms). Once distributed across several countries in Southeast Asia, the Mekong giant catfish is now critically endangered, thanks to habitat disruption. Not much is known about the world's biggest freshwater fish, although conservation efforts are underway.
Big catfish are rarely considered dangerous to people. The Mekong species can live to be more than 60 years old.

 Diving Bell Spider

The diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica) is the only known spider in the world that lives entirely underwater. Like other arachnids, it must breathe air, but it provides its own supply by forming a bubble, which it holds by hairs on its legs and abdomen. The spiders must occasionally return to the surface to replenish their air supply, although some gas exchange happens across the surface of their bubbles, so they don't have to come up very often.
The diving bell spider is found in northern and central Europe and parts of northern Asia. Unusual for spiders, the males are bigger than the females, perhaps because the males are more active hunters.

Anaconda

 Animal handlers hold a 19-foot anaconda at the Zoological Gardens. Among the world's largest snakes, anacondas live in rivers and wetlands of South America. The word anaconda is thought to come from the Tamil word anaikolra, which means elephant killer, alluding to the reptile's fearsome reputation.
Anacondas feed on fish, birds, reptiles, and small mammals, though they have been known to take the occasional domestic animal. The big snakes can be dangerous to people, though reports of deliberate predation are very rare.