Piranha
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
- For the armoured vehicle, see Piranha vehicle
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The piranhas or pirañas are a group of carnivorous freshwater fish living in South American rivers. They belong to five genera of the subfamily of Serrasalminae (which also includes closely related herbivorous fish including pacus and silver dollars). They are normally about 15 to 25 cm long (6 to 10 inches) long, although reportedly individuals have been found up to 40 cm in length. They are known for their sharp teeth and an aggressive appetite for meat and flesh. They are normally only found in the Amazonian and Paraguayan river systems. However, piranha (most likely former aquarium-dwellers) are also occasionally found in the Potomac River. They typically do not survive the cold winters of that region[1] (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/28/AR2005052801079_pf.html).
Piranhas generally pose little threat to humans, and human attacks are extremely seldom. Natives frequently swim in piranha infested water without attacks or scratches. It is not recommended to swim where piranha live in drought season because of increased aggressiveness caused by food scarcity.
The name piranha may come from a hybrid language composed of Tupi-Guarani languages; it may be a compound word made of the components 'pirá', meaning 'fish', and 'sanha' or 'ranha', meaning 'tooth'. Alternately, it may come from Tupi 'pirá' ('fish') and 'ánha' ('cut'). It is pronounced (in IPA) /pʰiɻanʲjə/ (or /pʰɻanʲjə), /pʰiɻaʲɲə/, or /pʰiɻanʲə/).
In the Maroni river in French Guyana a large kind, weighing up to five kilograms, can be found; it seems to be an herbivore. This species hosts colonies of worms in its stomach.
Five genera of piranhas
- Catoprion with Catoprion mento
- Citharinus with Citharinus citharus citharus
- Pristobrycon with 6 species
- Pygocenrus with 6 species, amongst which the most aggressive Pygocenrus piraya
- Serrasalmus with more than 20 species
Red bellied Piranha
Piranhas
References
- FishBase (http://www.fishbase.org/NomenClature/ScientificNameSearchList.cfm?Crit1_FieldName=SYNONYMS.SynGenus&Crit1_FieldType=CHAR&Crit1_Operator=EQUAL&Crit1_Value=Serrasalmus&Crit2_FieldName=SYNONYMS.SynSpecies&Crit2_FieldType=CHAR&Crit2_Operator=contains&Crit2_Value=&group=summary&backstep=-2) as of 2004-03-24
- "Characidae." ITIS Standard Report. (Integrated Taxonomic Information System: National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., 2004-10-13). URL: ITIS 162848 (http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=162848)
- Fahrenthold, David A.: In River of Many Aliens, Snakehead Looms as Threat (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/28/AR2005052801079_pf.html), The Washington Post, May 29, 2005.
- "Family Characidae - Characins." FishBase. ed. Froese, R. and D. Pauly (08/2004), URL: Characidae (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/FamilySummary.cfm?ID=102)
External links
nl:Piranha ja:ピラニア pl:Pirania pt:Piranha sv:Piraya
