Various stories exist about piranhas, such as how they can dilacerate a human body or cattle in seconds. Shoals of piranhas can be found in numbers of up to 1000. These voraciously hungry fish tend to have a l urk-and-ambush style of attack that occurs en masse, with large groups of piranha feeding at once. They will also eat whatever meat crosses their path, and because they hunt in groups, they can take down large animals. Most piranhas are shy and non-aggressive, unless they are hunting or protecting their young.īlack piranhas and red-bellied piranhas are considered the most dangerous and aggressive toward humans.ĭespite the carnivorous nature of the piranha, the piranha is actually an omnivore and will eat almost anything that it can find.Ī typical piranha diet consists of insects, fish, crustaceans, worms, carrion, seeds, fruit and other plant material. But, while sharks replace their teeth individually, piranhas replace teeth in quarters multiple times throughout their lifespan. It’s not uncommon for piranhas to lose teeth throughout their lifetime. They have a distinct under-bite, which means the bottom row of teeth is constantly exposed. Piranhas range in color from yellow to steel-grey to bluish to partly red to almost black.Ī piranha’s mouth is lined with a single row of razor-sharp, triangular teeth. Piranhas are normally about 15 to 25 centimeters (6 to 10 inches) long, although some specimens have been reported to be up to 50 centimeters (20 inches) in length. rhombeus is a species complex, but molecular work to confirm this has yet to be undertaken.They live up to 25 years in the wild and 10-20 years in captivity. The morphological differences between populations suggest that S. When Bernard Germain de Lacépède created the genus Serrasalmus in 1803 the only species he placed in it was Salmo rhombeus, so this species is the type species of its genus. The redeye piranha was first formally described in 1766 as Salmo rhombeus with the type locality given as Brokopondo on the Suriname River in Surinam. At least when breeding they defend an area around the nest which is placed among thick vegetation. This is not a sociable species and normally lives solitarily. They are well known scavengers, and feed on carcasses within the river. They will also eat the scales and fins which they can nip off other fishes. These fish are opportunistic and omnivorous feeders which will eat plants, fallen fruits and animals smaller than themselves such as insects and small fishes. Paler coloured fish tend to be found in turbid white waters, while in clear or dark waters, dark fish predominate. The juveniles are most frequently recorded in stiller stretches where there is thick submerged or marginal vegetation. The redeye piranha occurs in a wide variety of habitats but the adults have a preference for the larger, deeper river channels where they normally hunt for prey either in deep stretches or in the vicinity of rapids. It has been introduced to Florida but is now extirpated. They are found in the drainage systems of the Amazon and Orinoco as well as the Essequibo River and other rivers of the Guiana Shield and the coastal rivers of northeastern Brazil. The redeye piranha is found in northern South America, east of the Andes. The maximum recorded fish measurement standard length is 41.5–61 centimetres (16.3–24.0 in), although a more normal length is around 32 centimetres (13 in), and they attain a maximum weight of 3.0 kilograms (6.6 lb). How dark the fish become depends on the local water conditions fish in Peru appear to be the darkest and may be almost jet black. As they mature their silvery body becomes less mottled and changes to a darker grey or black colour. The colour of juveniles can be more mottled than in adults. Whatever the body colour, this species has red eyes. It has a distinctively, rhombus-shaped body, solidly coloured from grey through to nearly black. The redeye piranha is the largest species of piranha. It is the type species of the genus Serrasalmus. The redeye piranha ( Serrasalmus rhombeus), also known as the black piranha, white piranha, spotted piranha or yellow piranha, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a piranha from the family Serrasalmidae.
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