paichen.

1836 W. Smyth & F. Lowe Narr. Journey Lima to Para xii. 247 There are five kinds of fish caught in the river which grow to a large size..: they are the Paiche, the Gami- tana, the Paeon, the Sungaro, and the Torres.

1853 W. L. Herndon Explor. Valley Amazon i. 200 A fish called payshi, which is the fish ordinarily salted, was brought in and cut up whilst we were here... (It is called pirarucu in Brazil.)

1894 Geogr. Jrnl. 3 483 Those which are in principal demand are the pirarucu or paiche, the Amazonian cod, which attains to an enormous size... The paiche, when salted and sun-dried, forms a staple article of consumption amongst the rubber-collectors and others in these regions.

1921 Science 22 Apr. 379/1 The famed pirarucú (paiche of Peru) has undoubtedly been exterminated from certain regions.

1945 Sci. Monthly June 415/2 The paiche, which is much larger than the cod, is caught with a hand-hurled harpoon. This unusual fish requires atmospheric oxygen, and so it is obliged periodically to rise to the water's surface for a gulp of air.

1962 N. Maxwell Witch-doctor's Apprentice xx. 251 At each stop, the block of salt fish grew higher. It was all paiche, a giant fish often attaining a weight of more than two hundred pounds, which is found only in the Amazon River system.

1996 Interciencia 21 294/3 Much of the exploitation of manatees in this region is ancillary to the capture of paiche, Arapaima gigas.