Pygocentrus piraya

Pygocentrus piraya
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Characiformes
Family:	Characidae
Subfamily:	Serrasalminae
Genus:	Serrasalmus
Species:	S. piraya
Binomial name
Serrasalmus piraya (Cuvier, 1819)

The fish Pygocentrus Piraya (syn. Serrasalmo piraya and Pygocentrus piraya), often called the piraya piranha or San Francisco piranha, is a large, aggressive piranha from Brazil. It can be found in the Amazon River and Rio São Francisco. 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 belly, silver eyes, and rayed fibrous adipose fin. Like most other piranhas, S. 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.

Picture below is of a Piraya

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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 piraya prefers to eat small fish and insects, along with seeds and aquatic plant material.

The piraya is sometimes available as an aquarium fish. No evidence of these being 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. Aquarium pirayas require a variety of food which should consist of the following: Silverside fish(found at pet stores, in frozen packets), RAW shrimp, Catfish, Mussles, Freeze Dried Krill, and Talapia, and other white fish meats.

References

• "Serrasalmus piraya". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. 19 March. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
• Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2005). "Serrasalmus piraya" in FishBase. November 2005 version.