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Amazon's biggest fish, arapaima, may have become extinct in some areas of the Amazon's Basin, reports a new study. 

According to the study, the arapaima populations were found to be extinct in eight of the 41 communities studied. 

The arapaima fish can be as long as 10 feet and can weight more than 400 pounds(180 kilograms). These are one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. 

The study concluded that effects of fishing on tropical fish was worse than previously thought. 

"Mainstream thinking has predicted that scarcity would drive up price, which would increase fishing costs and help save depleted species. But that is not what has happened," said Dr Leandro Castello, from Virginia Tech, US, according to BBC.

Castello added that because the tropics contain many species of fish living together, there is no way to avoid catching arapaima. 

Arapaima fishes are unique among other fishes for their ability to breathe air. The ability is achieved by a primitive lung which they carry in conjunction with a gill system that also allows them to breathe underwater. 

"Fishers continue to harvest arapaima regardless of population depletion. When the mature, large fish are gone, gill nets are used to harvest small fish and these capture juvenile arapaima as well. Eight communities report zero arapaima," Dr Castello added.

"The time has come to apply local ecological knowledge to help assess populations, document practices and trends, and solve problems through user participation in management and conservation."

The study has been published in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Freshwater and Marine Ecosystems.