Tradition / Region: Argentine Mythology
Alternative names: –
Category: Horse, Fish

The Myth

Pira-Nũ, meaning “Black Fish,” is a water phantom from the Misionera region.

It is described as an enormous fish with a head resembling that of a horse, in which two exceptionally large eyes are set.

According to tradition, the creature was formed from the remains of old dugout canoes made from timbó wood that were lost in the rapids of the rivers.

The Pira-Nũ swims just beneath the surface of the water, waiting for boats to pass so that it can devour the people and animals traveling in them.

Sources

Colombres, A. (1984). Seres sobrenaturales de la cultura popular argentina (Vol. 1, Biblioteca de Cultura Popular). Ediciones del Sol.

The Myth

Kai Kai Filu is a mythological being in Mapuche tradition and is said to have caused the great universal flood.

It is described as a hybrid creature, half horse and half serpent, that lives at the bottom of the sea and agitates the waters, causing great floods.

Kai Kai Filu neighs like a horse, although some traditions deny that it possesses an equine half and state that its cry merely resembles the neighing of a horse.