Exhibition preview: Amazon Voyage: Vicious Fishes & Other Riches, Horniman Museum and Gardens, London, February 16 – November 2013

Few places are as well-poised to launch an escapade on the Amazon as the Horniman.

In line with its splendid title, the programme of events accompanying this exhibition includes boarding a boat to watch freshwater stingrays and tetras, hoisting a sculpted anaconda and feeling the simulated “zap” of tiny electric eels.

There are also magical aquariums, colourful artworks and bursts of scientific research among the pink dolphins and piranhas, as well as the stories of Barcelos residents, who celebrate their Brazilian bankside lives with an annual Ornamental Fish Festival. The Barcelos face threats from overfishing, poaching and logging so their stories are an important part of the display.

“It’s great to see our tetras, and a ray on loan from the Zoological Society of London, bringing this exhibition to life,” says Jamie Craggs, the Aquarium Curator at the Horniman.

Craggs is also giving people the chance to reach into a tank of rotten leaves in a tasty insight into the lives of the newly-discovered “muck fish” species.

“It helps people to understand the importance of managing human impact on natural environments.”

Art and instrument making, photo shows, talks and live performances make up the rest of a bustling series planned alongside the show between now and November.

• Open 10.30am-5.30pm. Visit www.horniman.ac.uk for booking information (available in February). Follow the museum on Twitter @HornimanMuseum.

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