home / Therapy for eczema/ Types of piranhas. What does it look like, where can it be found and is piranha fish edible? Features of appearance and behavior

Types of piranhas. What does it look like, where can it be found and is piranha fish edible? Features of appearance and behavior

Piranhas are small, mysterious and scary fish that came to all aquariums of the world from forest rivers South America. Even the word "piranha" itself sounds threatening, because in translation from one of the South American dialects it means "toothy demon."

Piranhas are small, mysterious and scary fish that came to all aquariums in 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 cases when piranhas gnawed through iron tools. This fish has truly legendary teeth, the sharpness of which can only compete with a surgical instrument. Even a dinosaur that lived for many millions of years could feel the bites of these predators, they are so ancient.

Piranha fish are cyprinids. It does not exceed 60 cm in length. It is strongly compressed from the sides, the teeth are wedge-shaped. There are more than 50 species, some of them do not reach 15 cm in length.

The most beautiful fish from this family is the red-bellied piranha. It is found in the rivers of the Amazon. Its back is dark steel, the sides are light silver, and the abdomen and hind fins are bright red. The size is quite suitable for an aquarium - up to 30 cm.

The red piranha is considered the most ferocious in its family. Live this species prefers small flocks of no more than 20 individuals. This allows you to successfully hunt and at the same time not become victims of predators yourself.

Gallery: piranha (25 photos)

Lifestyle and habitat of fish

Piranhas live both in large and deep rivers and in small streams in Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay. They can also live in small hollows that are flooded with water during the rainy season. The flock usually includes no more than 30 individuals. Almost all living things are prey - snails, amphibians, fish, invertebrates, mammals, sometimes even plants.

Let you learn a lot about piranhas Interesting Facts about their existence. This type of fish completely controls all living things that fall into the rivers that are their habitat, and local shepherds, in order to cross such a reservoir, have to sacrifice one of their animals. While the predators devour him, the rest of the herd has time to cross the river. True, in order to eat, for example, a small ungulate animal, you need 150-200 fish.

Wild animals have learned to distract fish by deliberately making noise and splashing their paws in shallow water, trying to get a flock of piranhas to swim to this place. And when this is done, the animal quickly runs to where you can safely get drunk or cross the river.

River monsters (video)

Piranhas can be kept in an aquarium, while observing certain safety measures, because this fish can cut off a piece of a finger in an instant with its sharp, scalpel-like teeth.

The most beautiful fish from this family is the red-bellied piranha.

In food, they are picky, in an aquarium they rarely grow to their full size and remain 10-15 cm long. Life expectancy in nature and in captivity is the same - about 10 years.

Since piranhas are omnivores in nature, in principle, they can be fed quite simply in an aquarium - fish, frozen shrimp, squid, earthworms, meat trimmings, or even mice bred in vivariums. It is impossible to overfeed piranha, it is prone to obesity, and food that is not eaten with full fish rots and poisons the water in the aquarium.

It is preferable to keep animals in a separate aquarium. But there is an opinion that, observing a diet that does not allow predators to really get hungry, you can settle piranhas with fish of other breeds, such as plecostomuses or pterygoplichts. These individuals live closer to the bottom and are protected by strong shells. But here, as they say, it doesn’t happen once at a time: a piranha can eat its neighbor without even being very hungry.

Aquarium Piranha Care

It doesn't matter what kind of fish is in the aquarium: black piranhas, like red-bellied piranhas, should be kept in special conditions. The ratio of water per 1 individual should be at least 150 liters. Since the fish lives in small flocks, at least 4 individuals, then an aquarium is needed for at least 300 liters. It should contain various objects under which the fish could hide. Even though the piranha is a predator, it can also be fearful and needs cover. Plants in an aquarium with piranhas should not be, they will eat them anyway.

Predators live only in clean water, so you should monitor the level of ammonia and nitrates in it daily. Water should be changed at least once a week.

Even if there are powerful filters in the aquarium, a water change is necessary, since the food of the fish consists of meat, and it tends to quickly rot, littering the environment. Long and careful observation of piranhas teaches their owner to understand the condition and needs of the fish at a glance, so it is necessary to devote more time to your pets.

How to eat piranhas (video)

How do fish reproduce?

In nature, piranhas, like most river fish, there is a spawning period, then the whole flock moves along the riverbed to the place where the game will be postponed. In an aquarium, things are a little different.

First, at first glance, it is very difficult to distinguish a female from a male. Only during the spawning period, the color of the male becomes brighter, and the female's abdomen noticeably rounds off from the eggs.

Secondly, spawning in an aquarium is possible not only in clean water with comfortable temperature- piranha fish should make up a full-fledged flock that has been living together for a long time.

Thirdly, there should be a place in the aquarium in which the couple (male and female) could retire. There they begin to build a nest of sand and pebbles. Then the female lays eggs in the dug hole, which the male fertilizes. After that, the father of the family does not leave the nest, protecting the eggs from everything that can harm her.

Caviar hatches quickly, already on the 3rd day fry come out of it. For another 2 days they feed from the yolk sac. Then the offspring are deposited in separate aquarium. At the same time, the male will continue to protect them and attack the owner, he will try to damage the net in order to save his fry.

Piranhas have become victims of the stereotype imposed on people by Hollywood thrillers; in fact, this is a very useful fish for the planet. She devours the weakest and sickest animals in the pack, thus purifying the gene pool of the species and making it stronger. This is very similar to the behavior of wolves in the forest - they cut off only weak animals from the herd, without touching strong individuals. With due attention and care, these fish will live long years in the aquarium of his master, delighting him and causing pride and satisfaction.

Attention, only TODAY!

Piranhas inhabit the rivers of South America. Their habitat extends over tens of millions of square kilometers - from the eastern borders of the Andes mountain range to the very coast of the Atlantic. Piranhas inhabit the waters of Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. There are more than twenty types of piranhas. Some species grow up to half a meter in length, others remain quite small, a few centimeters long.

Contrary to popular belief, most piranha species are harmless. Only four species of these fish are aggressive and can be dangerous. There is a lot of evidence of piranha attacks on, but none of these cases led to fatal consequences.

The word "" of one of the South American Indian tribes means "tooth fish". This is a capacious characteristic of the fish, the teeth are exposed due to the special structure of the lower jaw. The muscles that control jaw movements are very strong. In fact, piranhas do not tear their prey apart, but cut off small pieces of meat. Piranha teeth are extremely sharp. It is believed that they can even damage metal.

Piranhas are cannibals. They can easily pounce on their wounded relatives.

Common myths about piranhas

Contrary to the imposed stereotype, adult piranhas do not form large schools. In New York, where piranhas were bred, these fish kept at a considerable distance from each other. However, during feeding, they pounced on the prey in a dense group. After finishing feeding, they restored their usual distance. Moreover, the density of fish exceeded a certain allowable value, piranhas began to fight among themselves.

It is not known exactly how piranhas sense prey. Perhaps they are guided by the movements that their victims make. Scientists have suggested that piranhas can respond to changes in water levels.

Piranhas are quite popular for breeding in aquariums. However, in most countries they are banned. Many owners of piranhas release these fish into natural reservoirs as a joke, as a result, news about piranhas caught either in the Volga or in the Vistula often appears in the press. Fortunately, harsh winters do not allow these fish to adapt to cold rivers. So the Amazon remains their main habitat.

The second name of piranhas is "river ripper". These fish have chosen the fresh waters of South America and, according to some ichthyologists, are considered the most dangerous fish living outside the oceans and seas.

Instruction

Piranhas are predatory fish with razor-sharp teeth and powerful jaws. A flock of piranhas in a matter of minutes tears to shreds everything that falls into their visibility zone, leaving a bare skeleton from their victim. These fish are always hungry and attack at the first sign of blood.

Adult piranhas can reach a length of 35 cm. The body of these fish is elongated, but flattened laterally. The color of the body of a piranha can be different: from silver-blue with dark patches to dark gray, strewn with shimmering sparkles. The coloration of juveniles is lighter than that of adults. In addition, the tip of the tail of young piranhas is usually bordered by a dark stripe. The anal and pelvic fins of piranhas are usually yellowish or red in color.

The special structure of the lower jaw allows these fish to snatch quite a bit from their prey. large pieces meat. The piranha tooth has a triangular shape and reaches a height of up to 5 mm. The teeth of these predators are located so that their upper row fits exactly into the grooves of the teeth of the lower row: this makes it easy to cut off a piece of meat from prey. The cutting part of the piranha's teeth is so sharp that the Indians inhabiting South America generally use these teeth instead of a razor in everyday life.

Piranha jaws work in two modes. The first mode allows piranhas to tear off pieces of meat from the body of the victim when the jaws are closed, and the second allows you to bite off or gnaw at denser tissues (veins and bones) due to the displacement of already closed jaws. It is curious that an adult predator may well bite a human finger, pencil or thick fishing nets. In order for the art of eating prey to have a massive effect, piranhas prefer to hunt in large groups. They prey on anything that moves.

The piranha fish community pounces even on large mammals who dared to cross this or that river. The smell of blood spilled by this animal immediately attracts more and more predators to the scene. All this leads to the fact that the mammal simply does not have time to jump out of the water and drowns from a huge loss of blood. Cases of attacks of these fish even on crocodiles were recorded: piranhas bit off parts of their tails. Of course, these predators pose a serious danger to humans.

In general, birds and mammals that come close to water or swim across the river are considered a favorite diet of piranhas. Currently, a person has brought several types of aquarium piranhas. It is curious that piranhas in the aquarium are modest and shy fish, from time to time rushing in all directions at the sight of a person.

Habitat

The largest population of common piranhas (such is their official name) lives in the Amazon River, Parana, Orinoco, Essequibo, in America.

Piranha countries prefer warm (South America) and can be found in Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela.

This monster belongs, as well as, to freshwater fish, and therefore residents of coastal areas can be calm - these fish are not in salt water.

But flocks, consisting of 20 - 30 individuals, can be seen in rivers and lakes, tributaries and ponds, and even in flooded areas of land.

Important! AT recent times it became fashionable to breed predatory fish, in particular, piranhas at home. But some careless aquarists get bored with fish. And they release them for free bread. Therefore, even in our climate zone they can be found in water bodies. This is evidenced by confirmed stories of victims of piranhas.

Characteristic

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

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

In length, piranhas reach only 20 cm (red-bellied piranhas are also found 33 cm). The largest representative of the species seen in wild waters, was 48 cm long

Appearance

What does a piranha fish look like? The photo will show a laterally flattened fish with a dense body and a powerful tail.

It is the tail that helps to develop speed and maneuverability when attacking.

In length, the fish reach only 20 cm (red-bellied piranhas are also found 33 cm). The largest individual seen in wild waters was 48 cm long.
The weight of one fish is from 500 grams to a kilogram.
The color of the young is pale, light gray.
Piranhas change color with age. Females become purple, males become bright silver, blue-black, bright red or silver with an olive tint.
Sexually mature red-bellied piranhas are very beautiful: their throat, belly and rear lower fin are bright red, while they themselves are silver-steel.

The color of young piranhas is pale, light gray. Fish change color with age. Females turn purple, males bright silver, blue-black, bright red or silver with an olive tint

Key Features

The most remarkable and dangerous thing about piranha is its teeth located in a large mouth.

Seeing her jaws - massive, protruding, you immediately want to recoil, since such a muzzle does not cause sympathy.

The teeth are triangular, up to 5 mm long, the lower jaw is larger than the upper.

Piranha bite is dangerous: the jaws close so that the upper teeth exactly go into the voids between the teeth of the lower jaw.

Important! Do not put your fingers in the mouths of unfamiliar fish that live both in our reservoirs and in American ones.

Nutrition

Piranhas gather in large flocks, and therefore the victim usually does not leave them alive.

Scouring the water bodies, they eat everything living and moving.

Everything that can be eaten, chewed and swallowed goes to them as food:

plants;
fish;
invertebrates;
snails;
amphibians.

They hunt in muddy water, so it is easier for them to swim up to the victim in a flock. They love to hide in snags, pebbles, burrow into silt.

Even large animals fall into the number of their victims: horses, buffaloes, capybaras, birds - they are able to gnaw them in a minute.

And if they smell blood, they have no equal in speed, cruelty and frequency of the jaws. It turns out that the films are based on real events.

Interesting! Do you know who piranhas are afraid of? Amazonian dolphins, caimans, reptiles (anacondas, not)! They all eat piranhas if they get in their way.

It can be concluded that since piranhas are so dangerous, it is easier to exterminate them than to come to terms with their existence. But this is wrong.

Firstly, these fish are the orderlies of water bodies (like wolves are the orderlies of the forest), since they do not disdain to eat carrion, they support the principle of natural selection: they eat the weak and the sick.

And secondly, in Brazil they were once poisoned with poison, but the result surprised everyone.

The piranhas remained whole and angry, as other aquatic inhabitants disappeared, poisoned by poisons.

Reproduction. Spawning

At the 10th month of life, the female is already able to lay eggs.

If piranhas are very large, then they can enter the period of maturity in the second, and in the third, and even in the fifth year of life.

Piranhas go to spawn in spring and until mid-summer. Female fish lay their eggs on the bottom, mainly closer to the roots of plants, in the mud, digging holes.

Eggs at one time can be, scary to think, 50,000 pieces. The eggs are large, can reach a size of 4 mm.

After a week, the embryos already feed themselves, passing water with microorganisms through themselves. And in two weeks fry appear.

Parents, protecting offspring, circle around all the time, driving away and eating enemies.

Interesting! The fry are initially herbivorous, feed on plankton, as they grow older, they switch to zooplankton, and then to small fish.

Is it possible to keep piranhas in an aquarium with other fish?

It depends on the size of the aquarium, and on the number of plants, snags, houses where you can hide, and on the bloodthirsty fish themselves, and on their neighbors.

It happens that large fish can swim side by side for a couple of months, until one day they are eaten by piranhas.

There are other cases when these bloodthirsty fish peacefully coexist with other inhabitants of aquariums: singing catfish, pterygoplichts, black pacu and plecostomuses.

One piranha needs an aquarium with a volume of at least 100 liters.

Accordingly, for four fish - from 300 liters or more.

It is imperative to place in the aquarium any objects in which these fish can hide.

The main requirement for the life of piranhas in an aquarium is clean water.

Therefore, it is worth buying a filter, an aerator. Frequent water tests for the content of nitrates and ammonia in it, cleaning the aquarium also add to the hassle.

A thermometer is also needed to maintain the optimum temperature of 25-28 degrees.

Important! When washing driftwood locks, filters, use not tap water, but from an aquarium.

If in the wild piranhas eat what they can catch, then in aquariums they feed on what they are given.

Piranhas are not that picky. They eat shrimp, fish, squid, earthworms, mice, creeps, offal.

But the meat of mammals in their stomachs is digested very poorly and can result in obesity. They also accept ready-made fish food quite favorably.

Feeding fry: bloodworm, coretra, small fish, tubifex, tadpoles.

Aquarium piranhas are lazy creatures, they may not eat up all the food.

Everything that the fish did not eat should be removed. You do not want to clean the aquarium of rotting food more often than necessary.

For the sake of safety, being in the wild or next to an aquarium with piranhas, you should not tempt fate and climb into the water, I don’t know the ford.

Piranhas: bloodthirsty but fearful creatures of the Amazon

Piranhas are familiar to us from thrillers. They pounce on prey with lightning speed, eating it all without a trace. In fact, they themselves are afraid of some animals, such as dolphins.

Piranha is a dangerous exotic fish that can decorate any aquarium. At the same time, with her appearance, she will delight and even a little awe of your friends and guests. But before you start this fish in your home aquarium, you should carefully study its features.

habitats in nature

Piranhas live in the fresh waters of South America. It is found in the Amazon, Orinoco, Essequibo, Parana and Uruguay basins. Known in almost all countries of the South American continent.

Did you know? If South American shepherds need to move their cattle across a river full of piranhas, the only chance to do it is to give« tribute» . One cow is given to the owners of the rivers. While the predators are tearing apart the prey, the shepherds are moving the rest of the herd.

Description

The piranha family belongs to the ray-finned fish of the order of characins. Some species reach more than 1 m in length. Juveniles are silver in color with black spots on the sides. Fins - red or yellow shade. Adult fish are painted in silver-green with a reddish tint (maybe purple) tones. The caudal fin is edged with black.

Thanks to the special structure of the jaws, the fish can pull out pieces of flesh from its prey. Triangular teeth reach 0.5 cm in length and are located in such a way that with closed jaws, the upper ones fall exactly into the grooves between the lower ones. The jaws are capable of working both in the vertical plane, cutting off pieces of meat like a guillotine, and in the horizontal plane, pulling out denser and larger pieces of prey.

In their natural environment, piranhas are a kind of orderlies. They eat the flesh of drowned or dead animals to the bone (after the Amazon floods, a huge number of them remain). If not for river predators, this flesh would quickly rot when high temperature and air humidity, becoming a source of infections.

Kinds

The body is elongated, reaches 30 cm in length. Gray in color with a silvery sheen, the anal fin and tail are bordered with a black stripe, the belly is red. Area - Amazon and its tributaries.

The length does not exceed 15 cm. Such dimensions should not be misleading, it is quite aggressive predatory fish. It has a silver color with black spots and a red anal fin. The tail is edged with black, there is a hump at the junction of the head and body.

Important! There are 4 types of true piranhas, that is, those that pose a danger to warm-blooded animals and humans: black piranha, common piranha, common pygocentrus, Palometa piranha.

Red pacu (red-bellied)- omnivorous fish native to Brazil. In the natural environment, it can grow more than 85 cm in length, in an aquarium - a little more than 40 cm. The color is gray with a tint sheen, the abdomen and fins have a reddish tint. The fin on the back is elongated, the tail is bordered by a black stripe.

Body length no more than 15 cm. Body color - gray-green with a red belly. There is a small red spot near the gills. The dorsal and anal fins have elongated anterior rays. All fins, except for the anal (it has a reddish tint) are gray.

In the territory former USSR appeared in 1970. It has a rounded body, flat on the sides. The color is silvery with a sheen, the same color of the eyes with a vertical black stripe. A high dorsal fin and crescent-shaped tail complete the picture. The back can have a color from green to blue, as well as the shade of the sides. All fins are elongated, there may be black spots or stripes on the sides. The fins appear transparent, the abdomen is whitish.

It grows up to 25 cm in length. high structure body, red spot behind the gills. The anal fin is red in females and veiled in males. The fish has a silvery color with a tint tint. The sides are cast with the whole spectrum of the rainbow - from red-yellow to blue-green. The fish is predominantly herbivorous.

A large variety of piranha (25 cm in length). The color is silvery, the back is high, the bright red anal fin stands out against the background of the body. The tail is veiled. In females, the anal fin is not as saturated in color and smaller. It feeds on both plant and animal food.

Aquarium parameters and decorations

If you decide to have an exotic predator at home, you must comply with some requirements for arranging an aquarium. Piranhas in captivity love to be in niches and shelters, when equipping an aquarium, you should take care of this.

Did you know? The officially registered long-liver among piranhas is the red pacu, who lived for 28 years.

The volume of the aquarium should be calculated according to the following rule: for 3 cm of fish body length - 10 liters of water, but the aquarium must hold at least 150 liters. The fish is already rather big in size, and the insufficient volume of the dwelling negatively affects its character. A fish can live on its own, but feels better in the company of its own kind.

These predators are voracious, leaving behind a large number of life products. Accordingly, you should take care of a good powerful filter, you can use several.

Vegetation

Piranhas, although they are predators, but they also eat various aquatic vegetation with pleasure. So all your efforts in greening the habitat for fish can go to satisfying its gastronomic needs. Although it is also not worth leaving an aquarium without greenery. The best solution is to abundantly fill the aquarium with artificial plants. Especially willingly, the fish eats greens during the spawning period.

Priming

Sometimes they prefer to keep piranhas in aquariums without soil, so it is more convenient to care for them. If you prefer traditional decor, the most ordinary sand or gravel is fine.

Water

The water in the aquarium must be well aerated and meet the following requirements:

temperature - 24...26 °С;
acidity - 6.0-7.0;
hardness - 12-16 dH.

The water should be the cleanest, it is necessary to replace part of the water every week (sometimes twice a week), approximately 1/7 of the total volume.

Lighting

Lighting is not of fundamental importance, although it is believed that preference should be given to white light. Lighting norm - 0.5-0.7 W / l.

Feeding

In the wild, piranhas eat literally everything. Therefore, in captivity, their diet is quite extensive. You can feed predators with other fish, molluscs, invertebrates, amphibians, worms and fruits. The most popular diet for aquarium species:

fish;
krill;
cuttlefish;
squid;
worms;
meat by-products;
creeps;
small rodents.

The predators are fed once a day, the duration of the procedure is up to 3 minutes. Leftover food must be removed.

Important!Mammalian meat, although acceptable, is not good food for piranhas - fish do not digest it well, and this can lead to obesity.

Meat or fish (river giving is not recommended) cut finely or twisted into minced meat. Minced meat is mixed with vegetables, and predators are fed with this puree. You can not use only beef for feeding, this can cause an endocrine system disorder (color fades).

You can feed the fish in this way: tie food (fish, meat) to the thread, and lower it into the aquarium for 2.5-3 minutes, after the specified time, remove the thread and what is left on it.

The nutritional norm for a predator is the approximate weight of its body. From time to time it is worth arranging fasting days, in order to avoid obesity.

Compatibility with other inhabitants

Under the condition of full feeding and a sufficient volume of the aquarium, piranhas get along quite normally with and.

Character and behavior

Even in a pack of brethren, skirmishes and cases of cannibalism are quite common. Watching the flock, you can find a leader in it. Often he is larger than other fish, he eats first and shows with all his behavior that he is the leader.

Representatives of the same species get along best in groups of 8-10 individuals. With some external influences, the fish may begin to panic:

a strong knock on the wall of the aquarium;
bright flash of light;
strong splash of water;
the ingress of a large foreign object into the water.

Did you know? Piranhas make similar sounds. When the fish is taken out of the water, it makes sounds similar to the barking of a dog; when the fish share food, their exclamations become like the beat of a drum. If one fish violates the personal space of another, the piranha begins to "croak".

Reproduction and sex differences

Piranhas become capable of breeding at the age of 16-18 months. It is quite difficult to distinguish a male from a female. It is best to watch the fish - before spawning, the color of males becomes brighter, and feature females - rounded abdomen.

The next step is to choose a secluded quiet place to create a spawning ground. You need to keep together those fish that have lived nearby for a sufficient time and are well compatible. The spawning ground should be spacious, have a large volume, and the water should be clean, with a hardness index of 6.0-7.5 and a temperature of 26 ... 29 ° C.

First, the pair will find a place to spawn. The fact that the place is chosen will be indicated by the aggressive behavior of the fish. This is their normal reaction - in this way predators show that the territory is occupied. Then you can see a darkening of the color, and the formation of a small depression at the bottom. After spawning and fertilization, the male will fiercely defend the fertilized eggs.

Caviar is usually bright orange, after 2 days it begins to hatch. Then, after another 2 days, a fry appears, it must be carefully removed with the help of a cage.

Important! Be careful - during the birth of offspring, the male can attack everything that moves.

Fry should be immediately kept in the usual conditions for this species. They have an excellent appetite from a very young age. It is best to use brine shrimp, daphnia and bloodworms to feed the fry. The fry need to be fed twice a day. After 4 weeks, they will reach about 1 cm in length. At the age of two months, the fins of the fry acquire an orange tint.

In conditions of crowding, fry become aggressive. To exclude cases of cannibalism, triage should be carried out every week. It is necessary to leave fry approximately the same in size, sifting out smaller ones.

up to 1 month - 300-500 pieces;
up to 2 months - 200 pieces;
up to 3 months - 100 pcs.

Health

Piranhas live in captivity for 10 years or more, they are unpretentious in keeping. An indicator of the health of predators is their appetite. If the fish do not fight for food, do not show playfulness and some anger when feeding, then something is wrong with the conditions of detention. Piranhas are quite sensitive to temperature, water acidity and oxygen saturation. If the inhabitants of the aquarium have a poor appetite, pay attention to these indicators.

Individual characteristics

It is worth noting that rumors about the bloodthirstiness of piranhas are greatly exaggerated. Almost half of the species are herbivores (about 40 out of 80), and only 4 species, the so-called "true piranhas", pose a threat to mammals and humans in general.

Predators are characterized by rapid tissue regeneration. Injured skin and fins quickly restore their functions. There were cases when the fish felt tolerably, left without an eye after a skirmish with an opponent.

In captivity, piranhas are less aggressive than in the wild. Sometimes they are even shy, clogged in cracks, burrows and spend most of their time there. Activity is shown only when feeding. In general, feeding deserves special attention.

If piranhas eat normally, they get along quite peacefully with representatives of other species, but if the food is poor, or there is not enough space in the aquarium, the fish can even fight with representatives of their own species. Moreover, the fights are fierce, predators often tear out pieces of flesh from each other and inflict injuries.

Stress in fish can cause moving to another aquarium, it happened that during this procedure piranhas gnawed through the mesh of the net.

The smell of blood can cause rabies in a predator. Cases have been recorded when piranhas went berserk when water was added to the aquarium, in which they washed meat.

Important! Piranhas eat their wounded, weak or sick counterparts.

Precautionary measures

Do not place the aquarium on a low surface, especially if you have Small child or a pet. Do not work in the aquarium with your bare hand if it has the slightest wound. In other cases, working with your bare hand (for example, removing leftover food) is quite acceptable, just try not to drive the fish into a corner.

Piranhas are bright and conspicuous inhabitants of aquariums, it is hard not to pay attention to them. But contrary to the reputation earned thanks to Hollywood films, the life of fish in an aquarium depends, first of all, on a person. Try to remember that, despite all the aggressiveness and strength, it is, first of all, aquarium fish, requiring an appropriate relationship.

Piranha (Pygocentrus) Muller & Troschel, 1844

Piranha (Piranha) from the Guarani language means "evil fish".

Order: Characinformes (Characiformes).
Family: Kharatsin (Characidae).
Subfamily: Piranhas (Serrasalminae).
Genus: Piranha (Pygocentrus).

Species: Includes four varieties of true Piranhas.

Foreword

Known as a voracious predator capable of quickly tearing flesh from bone and dangerous to any animal that enters its waters, the Red Belly Piranha is one of the most famous freshwater fish in the world. As a result, the display of this "bloodthirsty" creature occurs in most public aquariums, creepy Hollywood movies have been released and the species has become popular in the aquarium trade.

According to Herbert Axelrod (1976), the myth began when American President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Amazon of Brazil in 1913. Numerous journalists accompanied him, and the Brazilians staged a series of ploys, one of which was that the president allegedly "discovered and discovered" a new river, which was then named after him. One of the tributaries of the Aripuanan was chosen and is still referred to today as the Rio Roosevelt or Rio Teodoro.

When Roosevelt arrived at the river, a surprise was prepared by the Brazilians - a section of several hundred yards was blocked, for several weeks the fishermen released hundreds of adult piranhas there and isolated them there. They informed the president that he and his men should refrain from entering the water, as they would be eaten alive by the terribly vicious fish. Naturally, this news was met with skepticism, then a cow was driven there. This sparked a spectacular, furious fight for the right to get "their piece" among the trapped, hungry piranhas. After this event, the newspapers were filled with stories about terrible, carnivorous fish, but there was not a single record of the killing of a man by wild piranhas.

According to information from a number of sites and forums currently devoted to this topic, captive keeping of piranhas and their relatives has undergone a relative boom over the past decades. Lot various kinds are now available, but most wild-caught are expensive and out of the reach of most hobbyists. Natterer piranhas, unlike them, are bred in commercial purposes, coin-sized juveniles sell fairly cheaply, for fish requiring specialized and ultimately costly management and maintenance. For enthusiasts, this is an excellent aquarium inhabitant, but serious thought and study have importance before the purchase.

Natterer's piranha has proven difficult to identify for a number of reasons. For example, Pygocentrus piraya and Pygocentrus cariba are endemic to certain river basins (San Francisco in Brazil and Orinoco in Venezuela/Colombia, respectively) and have pronounced morphological features. Pygocentrus nattereri has an incredibly wide distribution, and color can vary significantly even between individuals of the same population. The coloration of the fish also varies depending on the type of habitat, fish living in black water / Blackwater conditions are generally darker, with less red-orange color than those living in clear or white water.

Morphology and structure in adult fish may vary in head and body shape, the presence or absence of dark spots or a mesh pattern on the sides and fins.

Piranhas (Pygocentrus) - in all species, the conditions for keeping, feeding and breeding are similar.

Piranha Natterera / Piranha Common / Red-bellied Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) Kner, 1858

nattereri: named after the Austrian naturalist Johann Natterer (1787-1843).

Range and Habitat

Currently found throughout most of the Amazon Basin (Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia) and the Essequibo River (Guyana and Venezuela) in the northeast, and further south in the Parana Rivers (Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina) and Uruguay (Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina).

Habitats include big rivers, small tributaries, oxbow lakes, floodplain lakes and ponds.

Description

All representatives of the genus Piranha (Pygocentrus) are distinguished by a convex forehead and a massive lower jaw, a small mouth and very sharp teeth on both jaws.

A wide, laterally compressed body, small pectoral and pelvic fins, an elongated anal fin, a powerful forked tail and small scales make these fish incredibly fast. The belly is all jagged, like a grater. Between the dorsal and caudal there is also an adipose fin - a characteristic sign of the Kharatsin.

The adults have bright color. Exist various options, but most often the top is gray with a metallic sheen, below the body is silver with golden splashes, the throat, abdomen and anal fin are red-orange. Available dark spots on the sides and many shiny inclusions on the scales.

The size

Maximum standard length 250 - 350 mm.

Behavior and Compatibility

Best kept alone in a species tank, although adult piranhas tend not to prey on smaller fish. Wild P. nattereri are often said to hunt in voracious packs, but usually only juveniles form aggregations. Older individuals exist in loose groups and form dominance hierarchies, so purchasing either a single specimen or a 5+ group is recommended, the latter being preferred.

Aquarium

Only suitable for large aquariums.

Some aquarists keep this species without bottom material for ease of maintenance, but regular aquarium gravel or sand are suitable substrates. Choosing a different décor is mostly down to personal preference, but live plants can be eaten, especially if the fish choose to spawn. Lighting is of no fundamental importance and can be from weak to strong, as preferred.

All true piranha varieties tend to produce a lot of waste, so the use of one or more small-sized external filters is essential. If possible, purchase filters with a built-in/through-flow heater, or at least one that is unbreakable, as adult fish are known to damage underwater equipment. The sump system / SAMP works well in this regard.

Water parameters:

Temperature: 24 - 28 ° C;
pH: 5.5 - 7.5;
Hardness: 2 - 12 dHG.

Try to change 30-50% of the tank volume every week, and be extra careful when doing maintenance or catching fish, for whatever reason be careful.

Nutrition

Pygocentrus species are not exclusively carnivorous, but can more accurately be described as opportunistic generalists.

The natural diet consists of live fish plus aquatic invertebrates, insects, nuts, seeds and fruits. Each jaw has a single row of sharp, triangular teeth that are used as blades to pierce, tear, grind and crush.

They sometimes attack sick or dying fish, eat the remains of skeletons large species, but attacks on live animals entering the water are very rare and mostly involve accidental bites or cases in which large numbers of these fish are left in small waters during dry periods.

In an aquarium, juveniles may be offered bloodworms, small earthworms, shredded shrimps, and the like, while adults will take pieces of fish flesh, whole shrimp, mussels, large earthworms, etc.

This species should not be fed on mammalian or poultry meat, as some of the lipids they contain cannot be properly absorbed by the fish and can cause excess body fat and even organ degeneration. In addition, there is no benefit in feeding fish such as viviparous or small goldfish, which carry the risk of disease and usually do not have a high nutritional value.

Sexual Dimorphism

Females usually reach bigger size in adulthood and have a more rounded body shape than males.

Breeding

Wild populations go through two annual breeding seasons, the first during the rise in water levels at the beginning of the rainy season, and the second during the low water period in November and December, when there is a sudden temporary rise in water levels. Flooded coastal vegetation and water meadows of floodplain lakes are the preferred spawning grounds.

Natterer piranhas are relatively easy to breed in an aquarium. Sexual maturity occurs at about the age of one year, with a body length of 100-150 mm. If you can't find a pair of spawners, it's probably best to start with a group of 6+ fish, which allows pairings to occur naturally. In some documented cases, spawning has been initiated by large changes cold water, while in others it happened without intervention.

When males are ready to breed, they become territorial, using their mouth and caudal fin to create a depression in the ground in the center of the selected area. aquatic plants may also be "mowed", and the resulting "nest" is protected from other males.

Females ready for spawning show interest in what is happening, at this moment both the male and the female become darker in color. Caviar is laid in several portions and guarded by the male, sometimes the female helps in this. In very large aquariums, several pairs may spawn at the same time.

The larvae hatch within 2-3 days, begin free swimming for the fifth. AT this moment, it is considered the best for transferring fry to smaller, nursery tanks. Artemia nauplii, microworms or equivalent are suitable as initial food, and will require about 10% water changes daily.

The fry become cannibals due to the difference in growth rate, when this starts to happen they should be moved to larger tanks, in batches of equal size.

Think carefully before you start breeding, you could end up raising more than 1000 fry, which later will simply have nowhere to go.

Pygocentrus Common / Piranha from the San Francisco River / Piranha Cuvier (Pygocentrus Piraya) Cuvier, 1819

A distinctive feature of this piranha is that the orange-red color rises along the entire length of the body of the fish, reaches the lateral line, sometimes higher.

Bounded by the San Francisco River Basin in eastern Brazil, including major tributaries such as the Velhas and Grande rivers.

Inhabits large river channels, small tributaries, floodplain lakes and large artificial reservoirs formed by dams.