Piranha

Amazon River Fish: Piranha

The name piranha comes from Tapi-Guarani language: "pira", fish and "sanha", tooth.
Red-bellied piranhas are the most feared and best known of around 40 species of them.
They have powerful jaws and razor-like triangular teeth that can shred flesh from bone in a matter of seconds.
Amazon indigenous tribes use piranha's teeth for tools and knives, and to sharpen their curare-tipped darts for blowgun hunting.

They feed in large schools and can converge on animals like anacondas, manatees, caymans, birds, etc., but attacks on humans are very rare.
However, it would be unwise to swim having a wound or otherwise bleeding, as they're attracted to the scent of blood, just like sharks.
In dry season, when food becomes scarce, they can be dangerous.

For the most species, piranhas are herbivorous, feeding on fruit and seeds. Their average size goes up to 6-10 inches (15-25 cm.)

The Amazon is home to the piranha, one of the world's most terrifying fish. Up to 60 centimetres long, piranhas hunt in shoals, or packs, and can kill cattle or humans and strip the flesh from their bones in afew minutes.

A piranha at the Memphis Zoo

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Subclass: Neopterygii

Infraclass: Teleostei

Order: Characiformes

Family: Characidae

Subfamily: Serrasalminae

You wouldn't want one of these in your fish tank!
Piranhas belong to the subfamily Serrasalminae, which also includes closely related omnivorous fish such as pacus.Traditionally, only the four genera Pristobrycon, Pygocentrus, Pygopristis and Serrasalmus are considered to be true piranhas, due to their specialized teeth. However, a recent analysis showed that, if the piranha group is to be monophyletic, it should be restricted to Serrasalmus, Pygocentrus and part of Pristobrycon, or expanded to include these taxa plus Pygopristis, Catoprion, and Pristobrycon striolatus. Pygopristis was found to be more closely related to Catoprion than the other three piranha genera.

The total number of piranha species is unknown and contested, and new species continue to be described. Estimates range from fewer than 30 to more than 60.
Piranhas are found 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.

Aquarium piranhas have been introduced into parts of the United States, with specimens occasionally found in the Potomac River, Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri and even as far north as Lake Winnebago inWisconsin, although they typically do not survive cold winters. Piranhas have also been discovered in the Kaptai Lake in southeastBangladesh. Research is being carried out to establish how piranhas have moved to such distant corners of the world from their original habitat. Some rogue exotic fish traders are thought to have released them in the lake to avoid being caught by antipoaching forces.[original research?]

This is the skull of the red-bellied piranha, front view (left) and side view (right). This photo clearly shows the dentition of this infamous fish.

White Piranha

The White Piranha (Serrasalmus rhombeus) grows much larger than the Red-bellied Piranha. Although bigger in size and possessing similar dentition, this species specializes on hunting other fish and does not "swarm" in large schools, so it is less dangerous than the Red-bellied Piranha. Hence, it is necessary to use fish as a bait as they tend to refuse meat bait.

Red Billied Piranha

The guide is holding open the jaws of a Red-bellied Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri)—the Amazon's most notorious animal. Its powerful bite and sharp teeth can sever a finger or toe, but there are, contrary to popular belief, no confirmed fatalities resulting from a mass attack. Most tours include a fishing expedition during which tourists fish for these piranhas with nothing more than a stick, a hook and a piece of meat.


Some people imagine the Amazon River as teeming with flesh-eating fishes—the deadly piranha. However, the biology of piranhas is not common knowledge. There are in fact at least a dozen different species, belonging to the characin group of fishes. Most eat fallen fruit—not as thrilling as stripping a carcass to the bone, but much more interesting.