I am writing a story that is set in Macapá, Brazil, and one of the characters lives on things he catches from the Amazon. The story is set in the future, and the river is choked with genetically modified algae, and has very little fish living in it because of that. I couldn’t seem to find the local names for any of the crustaceans, etc. that live in the Amazon (mostly just fish and dolphins). I originally have him living mostly on snails and the occasional turtle, but I realized that, because I am using the Portuguese word for ‘snail’ as a slang term for indigents (because they carry their homes on their backs) that this may cause some confusion.
So, does anyone know the names (preferably local) of any of the snails, crayfish equivalents, or other non-fish aquatic life in the Amazon?
Erroneous is right about the capybara. We discussed the subject of this “fish” (to comply with the Catholic “fish on Friday” custom) some time ago on these boards. There are several aquatic mammals that are regularly eaten by people in South America, including (I think) the nutria. As for using the term, “snail,” why not use the Spanish equivalent (makes it sound more exotic than the Portuguese word) of caracoles?
I feel that ‘caracóis’ is more exotic sounding than ‘caracoles’. The linked site has some names of individual types of snails, I will probably use those for the kind that Kebede eats. I am still trying to find how much local lingo I want to use and how much is going to be automatically translated for the reader.
