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Here we are at the last monster of the month.  This one comes from the Yanomami of Brazil and Venezuela.  Definitely looks like a dangerous critter.  There’s also not a lot of information out there on them.

As you can see, the Aun Pana is a fish with sharp teeth and a hairy body.  It also has two muscular arms that can grab prey.  Another name for them is the Pehiwetinome, but some sites said that this was a separate creature that they traveled with.  Both are vicious predatory fish that hunted in schools throughout the rivers and lakes.  I actually learned a new term with this guys, which is anthropophagus.  That’s a fancy way of saying they eat people.

The only story that I kept finding was about the Aun Pana chewing on the supports of a wooden bridge.  They wanted to get the Yanomani people walking across into the water for easy devouring.  It did collapse, but the remains turned into a raft.  Those who got onto the raft survived to turn into monkeys and pigs.  Although, it wasn’t entirely clear of those who were changed really escaped.

The Aun Pana supposedly has some magical powers such as transforming others.  That might be why the humans were turned into monkeys and pigs.  Maybe this made them easier prey?  These creatures are supposed to be highly intelligent enough to use swarming tactics to take down larger prey and defeat obstacles.  Aun Pana also made alliances with other monsters to help get food.  At least, that’s what I found on a few sites, but no stories to prove this.

A big reason that I kept his monster here and put it at the end was because I ran into a common problem.  Many fantasy authors and fantasy RPG makers had created their own versions of some monsters.  The Aun Pana showed up most times with the same story and origin, but also stats or a fictional biography.  I guess their appearance and being fairly unknown makes them rather enticing for anyone trying to build a bestiary for their worlds.  Dragons, unicorns, and the like are all over the place, so throwing a few obscure mythological beings can spice things up.

Unfortunately, this can muddy the waters for anyone trying to research the actual mythology.  If you’re in a rush, you might not notice that you are taking information from a fictional source.  Sometimes, the story isn’t a clear fabrication because the author is writing it as real for their world.  This is why one has to diligent and apologetic if they made mistakes.  Fingers crossed that I didn’t screw up too often over the course of this month.

So, what obscure monster do you have in your head that others might not think of?