Hoplias curupira, also known as the black wolf-fish, has a wide distribution in the Amazon basin but was described as recently as 2009.

Hoplias curupira was first formally described in 2009 by the Brazilian zoologists Osvaldo Takeshi Oyakawa & George Mendes Taliaferro Mattox with the type locality given as the Rio Itacaiúas, Caldeirão, Serra dos Carajás, Tocantins basin, Pará State in Brazil.

[3] The fish is named after Curupira, a mythical creature of Brazilian folklore that protects the forest and its inhabitants, sometimes taking the form of a small Amerindian child whose feet are turned backwards, making it difficult to follow its tracks.

[5] Hoplias curupire is found in large rivers and igarapés,[6] i.e. routes that are navigable by canoes.

[5] Like other members of the genus Hoplias, H. curupira is an ambush predator on various insects, larvae, small fishes, shrimps, worms and fruits[6] and is more diurnal than its cogeners.