Prochilodus lineatus (synonym P. platensis) is a Central American and South American species of ray-finned fish that inhabits the basin of the Paraná River and the Paraguay River in the Argentine Mesopotamia and Paraguay, the Pilcomayo River in Bolivia, the Paraíba do Sul River in Brazil and the river San Juan in Nicaragua. In Spanish its common name is sábalo; in Brazil it receives the names curimbatá, curimba, corimbatá or grumatã. In the United States it is also known by the technical synonym Tarpon prochilodus. There are many other species of fish with the common name sábalo; P. lineatus is therefore distinguished sometimes as sábalo jetón (colloquial Spanish for "big-mouth") or chupabarro ("mud-sucker").
P. lineatus has a maximum length of about 50-60 cm and measures up to 6 kg. Its body is tall and compressed, greenish-gray (lighter in the belly), with yellowish green fins. Its mouth is circular and projects towards the front; it has two series of small teeth.
This fish prefers deep waters and it is illiophagous, i. e. it sucks and eats organic mud, for which its mouth is especially adapted. This incidentally makes it difficult to fish with a bait. It migrates in large banks, looking for warm waters during the spring in order to lay its eggs.
