Giant Fish of South America.
Variant names: Gums, Mysterious beast.
Physical description: Sluglike or snakelike.
Wide as a horse. Doglike head. No teeth.
Stumpy tail that conceals a poisonous, barbed
spike.
Behavior: Said to pull dogs and humans
underwater.
Distribution: Río Paraguay drainage; swamps
of the Gran Chaco, Boquerón Department,
Paraguay.
Possible explanations:
(1) Toothless, freshwater shark, according
to Percy Fawcett. However, the only
known shark to stay for extended periods
in freshwater, the aggressive Bull shark
(Carcharhinus leucas) of the Amazon
and elsewhere, has triangular, serrated
teeth.
(2) Giant Catfish (Suborder Siluroidea),
said to grow to 18 feet in length and weigh
half a ton. Older specimens of catfish
sometimes are toothless.
(3) A large sturgeon, according to Mike
Grayson, though none occur anywhere in
the Southern Hemisphere.