NEW YORK – Often television stars travel with assistants in charge of makeup and wardrobe. Jeremy Wade brought a tank with a black piranha and a candiru to a recent appointment.

Wade hosts Animal Planet’s “River Monsters,” the network’s most popular series, where he goes around the world to find ugly and often legendary creatures that lurk in murky waters. “River Monsters” begins its sixth season Sunday (9 p.m. EDT) with a story on a 1981 shipwreck in the Amazon.

Much of the season’s stories are set in the Amazon, hence the piranha and candiru. Toothy piranha – you already know about them. The candiru? You don’t want to. The tiny, eel-like creature has been known for very unpleasant infiltrations into humans.

Unlike many “River Monsters” episodes, where the fisherman Wade hunts for creepy creatures, Sunday’s story about the Sobra Santos is a mystery.