new piranhas nine months old

Distribution

Piranhas are found only in the Amazon basin, in the Orinoco, in rivers of the Guyanas, in the Paraguay-Paraná, and the São Francisco River systems; some species of piranha have broad geographic ranges, occurring in more than one of the major basins mentioned above, whereas others appear to have more limited distributions.

However, piranha (inevitably former aquarium-dwellers) have been introduced into parts of the United States, even being occasionally found in the Potomac River, and even as far north as Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin although they typically do not survive the cold winters of that region. Piranha have also been discovered in the Kaptai Lake in south-east Bangladesh. More recently a dead Piranha was discovered in a river in Devon, England. Research is being carried out to establish how piranha have moved to such distant corners of the world from their original habitat. It is anticipated that rogue exotic fish traders have released them in the lake to avoid being caught by anti-poaching forces.

Description

Piranhas are normally about 15 to 25 cm long (6 to 10 inches), although reportedly individuals have been found up to 43 cm (18.0 inches) in length. Serrasalmus, Pristobrycon, Pygocentrus and Pygopristis are most easily recognized by their unique dentition. All piranhas have a single row of sharp teeth in both jaws; the teeth are tightly packed and interlocking (via small cusps) and used for rapid puncture and shearing. Individual teeth are typically broadly triangular, pointed and blade-like (flat in profile). There is minor variation in the number of cusps; in most species, the teeth are tricuspid with a larger middle cusp which makes the individual teeth appear markedly triangular. The exception is Pygopristis, which has pentacuspid teeth and a middle cusp usually only slightly larger than the other cusps. In the scale-eating Catoprion, the shape of their teeth is markedly different and the premaxillary teeth are in two rows, as in most other serrasalmines.

Ecology

Ecologically, piranhas are important components of their native environments. Although largely restricted to lowland drainages, these fish are widespread and inhabit diverse habitats within both lotic and lentic environments. Some piranha species are abundant locally, and multiple species often occur together. As both predators and scavengers, piranhas influence the local distribution and composition of fish assemblages. Certain piranha species consume large quantities of seeds, but unlike the related Colossoma and Piaractus, herbivorous piranhas thoroughly masticate and entirely devour all seeds eaten and consequently do not function as dispersers.
Piranha have a reputation as a fearless fish who hunt their prey in ferocious packs. However, recent research, which "started off with the premise that they school as a means of cooperative hunting", discovered that they were in fact rather fearful fish, like other fish, who schooled for protection from their predators, such as cormorants, caimans and dolphins. Piranhas are "basically like regular fish with large teeth".

Research on the species Serrasalmus aff. brandtii and Pygocentrus nattereri in Viana Lake, which is formed during the wet season when the Rio Pindare (a tributary of the Rio Mearim) floods, has shown that these species eat vegetable matter at some stages in their life; they are not strictly carnivorous fish.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• piranha
• piranhas
• pygomaniac
• feeding
• feed
• food
• cariba
• piraya
• pirapitinga
• nattareri
• pygocentrus
• serasalmus
• red
• belley
• nats

[boodyzozo]

how do you now how old are the?

[rajkerala33]

i got it when it was very very small and they growing very fast

[SBT4L1F3]

I saw the piranha at a pet store once it had like a grey sparkly back like red bellys except its belly was like a bright eletric blue anybody know what species it was?

[rajkerala33]

when piranhas get older their colors will change as u said above otherwise it may be a young rhom

[redbellypacu456]

either way nice piranahs , i have 1 but its really shy , almsot beat up my 10 year old oscar , the prianah is 2 inches do you do some thing to make them less shy

[rajkerala33]

i ve nine in numbers. if they r less in numbers or only one, they may become fragile and shy but if u keep one for at least one year he will become aggressive soon. i suspect ur oscar is the key factor of ur piranha being shy but when he grows up u can see ur oscars fins nipped up

thanks and regards

[altuvei]

@ruckaisawesome -- actually -- i have had mine for 10 months from 1" babies and they are all about the same size as the larger one in there -- everyone is about 8" plus -- so it is proof they can get that size in less than a year -- keep in mind i feed them 3 times a day and do water changes every 3 days with perfectly matched clean water..and they are in a large tank.

[sifeiliu]

how big is your tank?

[Death2RockwayMiddle]

I will like to see one eat a person piece by piece! :)

[ruckaisawesome]

there's no way those piranhas r only 9 month... i had mine for a year and its half that size

[FHINNY]

are you crazy to pet this blood suckers!!!

[DRBROWNSOFFICE]

how big is your tank?

[piranhaunimatt]

red belly's do bit if hungry or scared, if you put your finger in with a large hungry shoal then kiss your finger good by, you need to do a 10% water change every week to make shur the waters clean, you can feed them any meet or fish as long as its not to fatty or has no cemicles in like preservatives, there are many requiermants, you double the filtration to start with, they are tropicle so they do need heat

[hunjus]

do red bellied piranhas bite you? and what if u put ur finger in the water will it bite you? do u need to change the water in case its dirty? what do u feed them? what are the requirements? do they need heat?

[chickinfinger11]

hay do thay need sun

[winzfeld]

lovely fish with such a bad reputation,its sad.How big are yours?

[kiet9cam]

how much did that cost him

[redbellypacu456]

lol my parents listen to indian music

[rajkerala33]

if the piranhas r hungry ur arowana will vanish without any traces. no other fish can survive even fast swimmers like widow tetras or zebra tetras or silver dollars. i dont know it is available in gulf countries.

[alwachry]

if i put this fish with my arowana its ok our it will be fi with other and how much this fish pirn it cost me

[rajkerala33]

good luck i hope they will grow fast

[catclaw777]

lol i just bought 3 babies

[rajkerala33]

nice to meet u dude i am in kerala. thanks and regards