[7] These speciation events may have occurred due to evidence of "long-distance marine or geodispersal" from similar morphological traits in both fossilized and living specimen within the genus.

In about a decade, arapaimas were found in Bolivian waters due to the connection of the Madre de Dios basin to the Beni River in Bolivia.

Historical reports of arapaima sightings started north near the border of Peru, then traveled downstream as populations began to establish and spatially separate.

[3] The fish are found in flooded forest areas where they reproduce during the wet season; they relocate to lakes after water levels drop.

[11][16] Both males and females have a gland-like secretory organ on the head, mostly used for communication with offspring and is therefore more prominent in males—who provide the majority of parental care.

[5][22] The secretion is made of 400 substances and consist of hormones, proteins, peptides and likely pheromones which also provides nutrients for fry (freshly hatched fish).

Migration to the flooded forest is a mechanism for feeding and parental care, with prey (for both adults and offspring) having increased densities in this habitat at the high-water season.

[19] Spawning occurs in lakes and river channels during the time of low water levels (August to March) in small, separate clutches with an average of less than 500 eggs in each batch.

[5] Small, batched spawning strategy is thought to derive from the unpredictability of the environment, as it lowers the total loss of fertilized eggs due to natural events.

[19] A. gigas’ genetic diversity has been greatly impacted due to habitat loss, environmental degradation, and commercial overexploitation in native fish stocks, as extreme as causing bottlenecks in some populations.

Loss of migration paths from anthropogenic actions separates local populations and forms refuges that can persevere, but without the exchange of genes.

The species has in the past been heavily impacted by overfishing, exacerbated by their need to surface for breathing every 5 to 15 minutes, causing them to be easy to harpoon.

[5] In addition, Arapaima gigas is listed in the CITES Appendix II since 1975, forcing legal harvest to be monitored under intergovernmental control with a management plan.

The study suggests "periodic monitoring to check eventual reducing levels of population genetic variability and the establishment of management plan.

[5] Arapaima gigas follows what is coined as the "Biodiversity Conservation Paradox", where a species has become endangered in its native habitat yet becoming growingly invasive in nonnative home ranges.

Various reports show a correlation between the spreading of Arapaima and the decline in numbers of native fish species in parts of the Bolivian Amazon.

[27] A joint study of the Bolivian government and different research organizations from 2017 points out the necessity to further evaluate the complex environmental and socioeconomic impact of Arapaima in the country.

[28] Oftentimes, introduction comes from accidentally escaped aquaculture groups, or for purposeful control of undesirable prey in parts of Brazil and south-eastern Peru.

[5] As discussed in the "Distribution" section, once established in the Madre de Dios region in Peru, populations moved to Bolivian waters through connections through the Beni River watershed.

The Beni River has few natural barriers, theoretically allowing the arapaima populations to continue evading further south and terrorizing native fishes in Bolivia and even western Brazil.

However, it can be assumed that risks would be similar to events observed in Bolivia and Brazil such as decrease in native populations and fishing stock.

For now, it is suggested to understand the reproduction and ecology in introduced arapaimas in Indonesia in order to properly propose management strategies and fishing/trading sanctions.