Piranha fish. Description, features, types, lifestyle and habitat of piranha

Piranhas are small, mysterious and scary fish that came to all aquariums around the world from the forest rivers of South America. Even the word “piranha” itself sounds menacing, because translated from one of the South American dialects it means “toothed demon.”

Piranhas are small, mysterious and scary fish that came to all aquariums around the world from the forest rivers of South America

Piranha teeth really deserve a special mention. They are so sharp that they can literally cut a piece off any prey, no matter how hard it is. There are known cases of piranhas chewing iron tools. This fish has truly legendary teeth, the sharpness of which can only be rivaled by a surgical instrument. Even a dinosaur that lived for many millions of years could feel the bites of these predators, they are so ancient.

Origin of the species and description

Photo: Piranha

If we talk about the common piranha, then this predator belongs to the class of ray-finned fish and the order of characinoids. There are two classifications regarding the family to which this fish belongs. One classifies it as a member of the characin family, and the other as a member of the piranha family. Various assumptions exist regarding the name of the fish.

According to one hypothesis, the word comes from the Portuguese language and means “pirate”; according to another, from the language of the Guarani Indian tribe, it is translated as “evil fish”. People learned about the common piranha back in the mid-nineteenth century. In addition to this species, there are other varieties, the total number of which is about thirty.

Interesting fact: Of all the types of piranhas, only four can pose a threat to humans or animals; more than half of piranhas prefer plant foods.

Among the dangerous ones are the common and large piranhas. Let us describe in more detail some types of this fish.

The common piranha poses a danger to people. The length of its body can reach up to 60 cm, but specimens from 25 to 35 cm in length are usually found. Young animals up to eight months of age are very richly colored (blue tones with dark spots and red fins). Adult fish are gray in color with a silvery tint, with golden specks visible on the sides.

Video: Piranha

During the mating season, the color of the anal fin turns red and the fish becomes almost black with a reddish belly. The fish's teeth resemble saw teeth, with which it cuts out entire pieces of the flesh of its prey. The teeth on the lower jaw are larger. Females are larger in size than males.

The red (red-breasted pacu) has a permanent residence in Brazilian territory and belongs to the herbivorous species. This fish is very large, its length can be about 90 cm. The color of the pacu is silvery-gray, the chest and lower fins are reddish. The tail of the fish is outlined with a dark (almost black) edging. Young animals have dark spots on their sides. The diamond-shaped piranha has a body shape that matches its name.

She fell in love with river basins:

• Amazons;
• La Plata;
• Guyana.

The length of the fish is about 40 cm, its color is greenish-silver, and the caudal fin is bordered by a stripe.

The slender piranha has an elongated body, about 30 cm long. The fish itself is silver, and its belly is slightly reddish, its tail with a dark edging. This species lives in rivers such as the Orinoco and Amazon.

The dwarf piranha does not exceed 15 cm in length, but compensates for its small size with aggressiveness and predatory habits. There is a small hump on the elongated head of the fish. The silvery body of the piranha is decorated with black speckles on the sides, and the tail is decorated with a black rim. The color of the anal fin is reddish.

The brown pacu prefers to live alone, unlike its fellows; it can be more than a meter long. The color of the fish is brown, grayish, and black. These colors on the body of a piranha can be combined, complementing one another. The shape of the teeth of the brown pacu is similar to that of humans.

Black pacu is the brightest representative of myelin

The black pacu (or Amazon broadbodied) is the most famous member of the Myelina subfamily. In addition, it is also the largest: its dimensions range from 30 centimeters to one meter or more, although it is not a predator. The color of adult individuals is quite modest, brownish-brown, but the young are silver in color with a large number of spots throughout the body and bright fins. Black pacu meat has good taste and is used by local residents. These are commercial piranhas. Aquarium conditions are also quite suitable for them, but the size of the fish will be slightly smaller than in nature, on average about 30 centimeters, life expectancy - within 10 years or a little more. Keeping this species requires a large aquarium (from 200 liters) and good care.

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Appearance and features

Photo: Piranha fish

It is clear that each variety of piranha has its own distinctive features, but, nevertheless, these fish have many common features in appearance, regardless of the species. The body of a piranha is flattened on the sides and is quite high. The largest fish from the piranha family is the brown pacu, its body length reaches 108 cm and its weight reaches 40 kg.

The smallest variety is the silver metinnis, its body length is no more than 14 cm. Female piranhas are larger and look much more plump than males. But the colors in males are predominantly bright.

Predator fish have a fairly large head, a blunt-nosed muzzle, and the jaws are very powerful and strong, the lower one protrudes forward. The fish's teeth are sharp and close tightly when the mouth closes or bites. There are about 66 of them on top, and 77 on the bottom. The piranha’s lips are thick, they cover the upper part of the teeth, so only their sharp ends are visible. Piranhas, whose menu consists of all kinds of plants, are endowed with molar-shaped grinding teeth. The pennant piranha has teeth arranged in two rows on top.

The tail of piranhas is not very long; it has a strong fin, the notch on which is weakly expressed. The dorsal fin is long, with more than 16 rays. The anal fin of the fish is also long, and those located on the belly are short. You can notice that an adipose fin stands out on the ridge of the fish; this is a feature characteristic of characin-like fish.

Piranhas have sharp eyesight and a good sense of smell. Her eyes are quite large, equipped with dark-colored pupils. With its vision, a fish can catch a fly or a bee flying over the water. The sense of smell of predatory fish is so sensitive that they can smell a drop of blood in a huge pool in just 30 seconds. The piranha's lateral line clearly scans for any movement nearby.

As already mentioned, the color of piranhas changes not only from species to species, but also with age. In some species, young fish are colored differently than mature fish.

Piranha can be:

• black;
• silver;
• gray;
• greenish-gray.

Many fish are decorated with dark spots, stripes, and shiny specks. The fins also have a variety of shades.

We figured out what a piranha looks like, now let's find out where it lives.

Gastronomic delicacy

Cooked piranha
Residents of South America catch and enjoy eating piranhas, whose meat tastes like trout, although it is not so easy to catch. To catch piranhas, they use huge hooks, which are used to catch huge fish weighing tens and hundreds of kilograms (and piranhas weigh only 0.5–2.5 kg) and thick fishing line. However, even after getting off the hook, the piranha will approach the bait again and again until it gets caught for dinner.

Where does piranha live?

Photo: Piranhas in the water

Piranhas prefer warm climates, so you will never see them in freezing bodies of water. These fish are widely distributed throughout the South American continent.

They live in rivers such as:

• Parana;
• Amazon;
• Uruguay;
• Orinoco;
• Essequibo.

These fish are popular in Venezuela, Guyana, Bolivia, Uruguay, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, and Paraguay. Piranhas are freshwater, they occupy rivers, lakes, channels, and backwaters. They avoid sea water because they cannot reproduce in salt water.

Recently, cases of piranhas being discovered in the waters of our country and Europe have begun to occur. Of course, this happened, but this does not mean that the piranha multiplied and began to live in places where it had not been seen before. The reason for these exceptional discoveries is the negligence of those who kept piranhas in their home aquarium, and then decided to get rid of them by releasing them into the nearest body of water, without thinking that they were dooming the fish to inevitable death.

Piranha usually settles in places where there is a lot of fish for food, because... she is quite gluttonous. Hunting often takes place in shallow water or where there is a lot of silt at the bottom. The important conditions for them are that the water is well heated, fresh, there is enough oxygen in it, and there is also a lot of vegetation. Piranhas love waters with moderate, not fast currents. They sometimes swim into the surface of the sea, but do not stay there for long.

We found out where the piranha lives, now let's figure out what it eats.

Aquarium Basics

Despite the fame of bloodthirsty predators, Piranhas are often kept in aquariums - these pets are very exotic and it is interesting to observe their behavior. But it must be remembered that this fish is very shy and often experiences stress from loud sounds and sudden movements. Therefore, when caring for them, the following rules should be observed:

• The tank for a school of 5-6 fish should be large - at least 500-600 liters. Long and wide is preferable, since Piranhas live in all layers, but they need room to move.
• It is better to install the aquarium in a quiet, calm place.
• This tropical inhabitant loves slightly acidic (or neutral) and soft water with a temperature of +24...+28 °C, dKH below 1°, dGH up to 5-7°, pH from 6.2 to 7.5.
• Filtration must be very active (up to three tank volumes per hour), because the fish is gluttonous and eats a lot of protein food, the waste of which decomposes very quickly.
• In nature, it rests among underwater shelters, so you should equip the aquarium with a large number of driftwood, grottoes, houses, and caves.
• It is better to use medium-sized pebbles as a bottom filler; you can sprinkle marble chips in one corner. The height of the soil in this place should be at least 5 cm, since the male will dig holes for spawning.
• Aquatic plants are undesirable, as any species will be eaten. You can decorate the tank with artificial ones.
• Once a week, almost complete renewal of the liquid in the tank is necessary, so even powerful filtration will not cope with protein food waste, and fish have high requirements for water purity. The absence of ammonia salts should also be checked weekly.
• The behavior of Piranhas in an artificial tank will tell an attentive owner a lot about their standard of living, so it is important to observe the pets more often and study their habits.

What does a piranha eat?

Photo: Piranha

The gluttony of piranhas is amazing, both carnivorous and vegetarian. The predator consumes almost everything that lives in the water column: other fish, reptiles, animals, birds, floating on the surface or flying low over the water. Even crocodiles are afraid of piranhas, so they swim above their flock with their vulnerable belly, exposing their armored back to the fish. Piranhas also eat plankton, aquatic insect larvae, amphibians, mollusks, and all kinds of invertebrates. The pennant piranha eats the scales of large fish, not bypassing its relatives.

Piranhas living in the wild do not pick up anything from the bottom; aquarium fish eat pieces of meat that have fallen to the bottom. Piranha predators are characterized by cannibalism. They will eat their fellow tribesmen entangled in the nets without hesitation. In aquariums, such phenomena also often occur when one stronger individual eats its fellows.

Fish living in captivity are fed with fry, shrimp, a variety of meat, squid, and ordinary earthworms, adding some vegetables to the menu (cabbage, potatoes, zucchini, spinach). Vegetarian piranhas eat all kinds of aquatic plants, fruits and seeds that have fallen from trees into the water.

Interesting fact: The predator piranha serves as a kind of aquatic orderly, because it often chooses very weak and sickly inhabitants of the waters as victims.

Now you know what piranha eats. Just a little time left, soon you will become a “guru” in the field of piranhas.

Characteristic

Piranhas are famous for their jaws; photos of the fish will be shown when the jaw approaches; they are armed with very sharp teeth in the form of plates.

Such teeth can easily tear out a piece of meat, bite off a finger and even bite through steel. But this concerns wild fish.

Aquarium piranhas, like axolotls , are refined individuals, that is, not adapted to wild life, since they were bred in captivity.

The owner of the aquarium only with some caution reaches into the aquarium with his hands to clean it or fix the interior.

Important! Be careful! When working in an aquarium with piranhas, do not push them into a corner. Otherwise, the fish will have to attack and use its teeth. Therefore, you need to replant the fish during cleaning not with your hands, but with the help of a net.

Both wild and aquarium piranhas are cowardly fish.

First, out of shock, they turn over on their side and turn pale, pretending to be dead and sinking to the bottom.

Then, having recovered, they can attack, and then the one who disturbed them will be in trouble.

Piranhas reach only 20 cm in length (red-bellied piranhas can also be 33 cm long). The largest representative of the species seen in wild waters was 48 cm long

Features of character and lifestyle

Photo: Piranha underwater

Piranhas usually gather in schools of about 30 individuals. Although in some species the school can number about a thousand fish. Predators go hunting at dusk, at night and in the pre-dawn hours. Many legends and scary stories are associated with piranhas and their bloodthirstiness. It is a mistake to believe that the movement of entire flocks is associated with their desire to kill; they exist collectively, on the contrary, to protect themselves from other ill-wishers.

The aggressive and conflictual nature of piranhas can be seen in the way they behave among their own, often starting internecine wars, fights and causing injury to each other. Piranhas spend most of their lives searching for food, because they have a colossal appetite.

Hunting piranhas is not a pleasant sight; they occupy the body of the prey in a large flock, tearing off pieces of flesh with their sharp teeth; these fish can gnaw a large animal to the bone in just one minute. Pisces are very sensitive to any splashes of water, and the smell of blood attracts them like a powerful magnet.

Interesting fact: There has never been a single recorded case of a piranha eating a person whole, as shown in horror films.

A piranha can bite a person, causing incredible pain; such cases are not uncommon and occur every year. The bite site of this fish becomes very inflamed and takes a long time to heal, and sometimes people have to have their limbs amputated because of it. The jaws of piranhas have such enormous power that they have no equal among any other animals.

In general, the temperament of these fish is very aggressive, their character is not the best, and piranhas do not have the endurance. In Brazil, they even tried to poison them with poison, but they only destroyed other living creatures in the pond, while the piranhas remained unharmed. Of course, these are aggressive predators, but many legends and stories exaggerate the level of danger posed by these fish.

Jaw structure

Piranhas are characterized by an amazing structure of the jaw apparatus, which perhaps has no analogues in nature. Everything is provided in it down to the finest detail. The teeth, triangular in shape and measuring 4-5 mm, are lamellar and sharp, like a razor blade, slightly curved inward. This allows them to easily cut through the flesh of the victim, tearing off pieces of meat. In addition, the upper and lower teeth fit perfectly into the sinuses when the jaw is closed, creating a strong pressure. This feature allows piranhas to bite through bones. When closed, the jaws close like a trap. According to the latest research by scientists, the bite force is 320 newtons and has no analogues in the animal world. When a piranha's jaws bite, it exerts about 30 times its weight in pressure.

Social structure and reproduction

Photo: School of piranhas

As it has already turned out, piranhas generally live in schools, sometimes very numerous. But the largest representative of their family (brown pacu) prefers complete solitude. Fish become sexually mature at around one and a half years. These fish are characterized by long-lasting paired love games before spawning. The color of excited individuals changes, becoming much brighter, and the aggressiveness of the fish during the mating season only intensifies.

Each fish couple in love has their own separate area, which they protect from the encroachments of others. Early in the morning, when the first rays of the sun appear, the female begins to spawn, turning over head down. At one time, a female can produce from 500 to 15,000 eggs, the amount depends on the type of fish. The eggs settle on aquatic plants, roots of coastal trees, and soil, and are immediately fertilized. Males diligently protect the clutches. The favorable temperature for the birth of fry is about 28 degrees plus.

The size of the eggs can reach up to 4 mm, their color is amber or greenish-yellow. The incubation period can last from two days to two weeks, it depends on the type and warmth of the water, the result of the whole action is the birth of larvae. For several days the larvae feed on the contents of the yolk sac left after birth, then they begin to swim on their own.

Even piranha fry are very voracious, insatiable and grow quickly. Caring parents continue their care until the fry begin to feed on their own. The lifespan of piranhas living in the wild is about twenty years, in captivity it is even slightly shorter.

Interesting fact: Among the piranhas, a long-liver has been recorded - the red pacu, who lived in captivity for 28 years.

Compatibility

In an aquarium school of Piranhas there should be at least four individuals, all of the same age. The younger and weaker ones will be persecuted and persecuted and may be eaten.

Neighborhood with other fish is undesirable; it is better to set up a species aquarium. Piranhas perceive any inhabitants as food, they are especially aggressive during the spawning period.

But if you feed these fish well and do not allow them to starve, then you can take a chance and add black pacu, singing catfish, plexostomus and pterogoplicht to them. The last two species also have a strong shell and live on the bottom.

But there can be no definite advice about combining Piranhas with someone. For some, they live quite calmly with their neighbors, for others, fights break out even within the pack. Most likely, this is influenced by many factors - the size of the tank, water parameters, equipment of the tank with shelters.

Natural enemies of piranhas

Photo: Predatory piranha

It should not be surprising that such bloodthirsty fish as piranhas have many enemies who are not afraid to attack them. River dolphins love to feast on them, so piranhas gather in schools in order to protect themselves from them at the right time. Arapaima fish and caiman are also not averse to trying piranha. Arapaima reaches gigantic sizes, its scales are strong as armor, so it is not afraid of piranhas and is happy to snack on them, posing a tangible threat to these fish. Caymans also love piranha as a dish. Zoological scientists even noticed that as the number of caimans decreases, the number of piranhas increases and vice versa.

We must not forget that cannibalism flourishes among piranhas, so they can easily kill each other. Only herbivorous piranhas are peaceful creatures, so they can be eaten by any larger predator, including their own relative. A large aquatic turtle can also attack a piranha.

Surprisingly, an angry and aggressive piranha can itself experience severe fright, which often happens to it. At this moment she becomes numb, her consciousness seems to turn off, she falls sideways to the bottom, in shock. At the same time, the color of the fish becomes paler. After the fish comes to its senses, it again zealously goes on the attack to protect its life.

Humans can also be counted among the piranha’s enemies. Except for the case of poisoning these fish, people catch them. The Indians eat piranhas as food, and the aborigines use their sharp teeth to make something like knives and scissors.

Breeding

The lifespan of Piranhas in an aquarium is about 10 years, and they reach sexual maturity no earlier than 2 years, when their size reaches 15-17 cm.

Reproduction is possible only in an established flock with an established hierarchical structure. In this case, it is important that the tank is located in a quiet and calm place, the acidity and softness of the water are within normal limits, and the temperature is at least +28 °C. The pair also needs reliable, spacious shelters. They are usually not deposited in the spawning grounds.

These fish become especially aggressive as the spawning period approaches and during the mating games themselves. At this time, the color of the pair darkens a little and becomes very bright.

Males prepare to receive offspring - they dig a hole at the bottom of the reservoir and clear it of silt and stones. When the female lays up to a thousand eggs there, the male will immediately fertilize her. In general, these are very gentle and caring parents. They carefully guard the clutch, attacking anyone who approaches it, and ventilate it. The already hatched larvae are also taken care of until they begin to eat on their own.

The incubation period for orange clutch is 40-45 hours. For 2-3 days, the hatched fry will eat their yolk sac, and then swim on their own. The cubs now need to be carefully removed. It should be remembered that parents will protect them and attack them, so you should absolutely not put your hands in the water.

Then the kids need to add artemia nauplius to the water, and a day later bloodworms, shrimp dust, and daphnia. You should feed three times a day, then by the end of the first month of life the fry will grow to 1 cm.

Under natural conditions, an adult female is capable of laying up to 50 thousand eggs during one spawning; they are very large (4-5 mm in diameter). The fry first feed on plant plankton, then zooplankton, and then purely protein food.

Caring for the fry

After the birth of their offspring, adult fish are removed so that they do not eat their own babies. The fry are fed nauplii and daphnia, gradually adding tubifex and bloodworms.

3 weeks after the babies appear, they are sorted. This way, the stronger ones will not start eating the weaker ones.

After 3-4 months they are transferred to standard food.

The owners unanimously say that piranhas are amazing and interesting. You can watch them hide and hunt for hours. The guest from the Amazon ceases to be a curiosity and becomes familiar. One of the main advantages of its maintenance is its unpretentiousness and ease of care.

HABITAT IN NATURE

The common predatory piranha or Natterer's piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri formerly, Serrasalmus nattereri and Rooseveltiella nattereri) was first described in 1858 by Kner. There is a huge amount of controversy over the scientific name of the piranha, and it is possible that it will change, but at the moment we have settled on P. nattereri. Piranha is found throughout South America: Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay. Lives in the Amazon, Orinoco, Parana and countless other small rivers.

Lives in rivers, tributaries, small rivulets. Also in large lakes, ponds, flooded forests and plains. They hunt in packs of 20 to 30 individuals. They feed on everything they can eat: fish, snails, plants, invertebrates, amphibians.

GENDER DIFFERENCES

It is extremely difficult to distinguish females from males in piranhas. Visually, this can only be done through long-term observations of behavior, especially before spawning. At this time, males are painted in the brightest colors, and the female’s abdomen becomes rounder from the eggs.

QUEEN NYASA CONTENTS COMPATIBILITY PHOTO BREEDING DESCRIPTION.

ASTRONOTHUS CICHLID OSCAR CARE, SPAWNING, DESCRIPTION, FEEDING.

CICHLIDS-PREDATORS OF THE AQUARIUM.

Reviews

Owners of these interesting fish note that it is fascinating to observe the habits of predators. The intelligence and bewitching appearance of the fish are amazing. Some aquarists have encountered piranhas being aggressive towards neighbors of other species, especially in a small aquarium.

Black Piranha / Black-spotted Piranha / Carib Piranha (Pygocentrus cariba) Humboldt, 1821

A distinctive feature of this piranha is a black spot on the body, just behind the gill cover.

Distribution and natural habitat

Limited to the Orinoco River basin in Colombia and Venezuela, including major tributaries such as the Inirida, Guaviare, Meta, Tomo, Casanare, Apure and Guarico rivers.

It lives in large river canals, smaller tributaries and floodplain lakes, many of which contain acidic, low-mineralized “Black Water,” although it is also found in clean water. Many of its habitats are located within Venezuela and Colombia, seasonally flooded plains and forests, the total area of ​​which is almost 600 thousand square kilometers.

There are clearly defined weather conditions with distinct wet and dry seasons and high temperatures all year round.

Size: 250 - 350 mm.

Aquarium

Suitable only for public display aquariums or the largest private aquariums, measuring from 240 * 90 * 60 cm or equivalent, these are the minimum requirements for a group of fish.

Water parameters:

Temperature: 20 – 28 ° C; pH: 4.0 - 7.0.

Behavior

All piranhas are inhabitants of fresh water bodies. They inhabit the rivers of central South America. Slaves prefer clean rivers with a small current, with water enriched with oxygen and heated to 26°C. You can meet piranha in places heavily overgrown with aquatic plants.

Common piranhas are not picky in their choice of habitats. The main condition for their residence is a large amount of fish and warm water. To date, none of these fish species are in danger of extinction. Their habitat is gradually expanding.

Young aquarists help them with this, releasing annoying fish into local water bodies, without thinking at all about the damage that may be caused to the local fauna. If the piranha takes root, it will multiply very quickly and can destroy most of the indigenous inhabitants.

Exotic lovers who keep piranhas in their aquariums have noticed that with enough food, the fish do not show any aggression. They eat as much as they should. If they are offered more small fish than they can eat at one time, then piranhas try to keep some of the food as a reserve.

They gnaw the fish's fins so that they don't run far.

You must always remember that you should be extremely careful when breeding them. They consider the owner of the aquarium exclusively as a source of protein food and do not particularly care about maintaining friendly relations with him.

Subfamily Catoprionines

This subfamily is represented by only one species - the flag piranha. The fish are quite harmless and lead a semi-parasitic lifestyle, their main food is the scales of other fish, although the appearance of these aquatic inhabitants is quite ominous, and they are not inferior in severity to their carnivorous counterparts. The shape of the flag piranha is diamond-shaped, flattened on the sides. The color of the scales is gray-green with a silvery sheen. A distinctive feature is the presence of a red spot on the gill covers. The outer rays of the anal and dorsal fin are strongly elongated, and the caudal fin has a black root. The dimensions are small, only 10-15 cm. This fish, similar to the common piranha and being its closest relative, mainly has plant foods (60%) in its diet, and only 40% consists of small fish. But it still needs to be kept separately from other fish, otherwise very small ones will be eaten, and large ones risk being left with damaged fins and partially without scales. As animal food, you can use small shrimp or fish, earthworms, and plant food - spinach leaves, lettuce, nettles and other greens.

Living water

The owner must monitor the condition and quality of the liquid in which the pet swims. It should not be cold or even warm for a long time. Ideally 26 degrees Celsius with a hardness of 6.5.

To maintain this mode, install a water heater and a thermometer. You also cannot do without a large filter that operates around the clock.

To saturate the aquarium with oxygen you will need aerators. The water is renewed weekly by 10-15%. Depending on the contamination, the procedure is carried out 2 times in 7 days.

Since the toothfish does not pick up leftover food, they are removed to keep it clean. All of these factors are important for maintaining a pet's immune system.

Diseases

Piranhas are hardy and rarely get sick. In poor conditions they are susceptible to:

Effective medications for most diseases can be purchased at a pet store. Before treating fish, read the instructions and determine the causes of the disease. Adjust the conditions: check the water for nitrates and other dangerous compounds, provide the piranhas with a balanced diet and make sure that the water parameters in the home aquarium are suitable for the fish.