Pygocentrus piraya, often called the piraya piranha or San Francisco piranha, and sometimes sold as the man-eating piranha, is a large, aggressive piranha from the São Francisco River basin in Brazil.
| Pygocentrus piraya | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Characiformes |
| Family: | Serrasalmidae |
| Genus: | Pygocentrus |
| Species: | P. piraya
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| Binomial name | |
| Pygocentrus piraya | |
| Synonyms | |
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Serrasalmus Piraya | |
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (March 2022) |
Description edit
It is one of the largest piranhas, reaching a maximum length of 50 cm in the wild, and is sometimes considered the most beautiful, with its orange to yellow belly coloration, silver eyes, and rayed fibrous adipose fin. Like most other piranhas, P. piraya is laterally compressed and roughly circular in profile, and bears a mouthful of very sharp teeth. The lower jaw is thick, strong, and protruding.
Names edit
It is known by many vernacular names, such as Rio São Francisco piranha, black-tailed piranha, and king emperor piranha, and locally it is simply termed piraya.
Diet edit
This fish is an omnivore, but when hungry, stressed, or seeking live food it is very aggressive. This characteristic combined with its large size make it a danger to humans. Piranha attacks on humans are anecdotal for the most part. The piranha prefers to eat small fish and insects, along with seeds and aquatic plant material. The pirayas aggressive and mutilating nature puts them at the top of their food chain in the river basin. The pygocentrus piraya plays a key role in their ecosystem by regulating the population of other fish[3]
In captivity edit
The piraya is sometimes available as an aquarium fish. It is not generally bred in captivity, so aquarium pirayas are usually imported from South America and can be expensive. Any other fish sharing a tank with a piraya should be of the same or a similar piranha species. Other types of fish will be attacked and eaten.
References edit
- ^ Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio). (2022). "Pygocentrus piraya". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T186786A1818359. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ "Pygocentrus piraya". FishBase.
- ^ SANTOS-CLAPP, M. D., DUARTE, R., ALBUQUERQUE, M. C., & BRASIL-SATO, M. C.. (2022). Helminth endoparasites of endemic fish Pygocentrus piraya (Characiformes, Serrasalmidae) from Três Marias reservoir, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Anais Da Academia Brasileira De Ciências, 94(4), e20201425. https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202220201425