Black Pacu
| Black Pacu | ||||||||||||
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Black Pacu ( Colossoma macropomum ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Colossoma | ||||||||||||
| Eigenmann & Kennedy , 1903 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Colossoma macropomum | ||||||||||||
| ( Cuvier , 1818) |
The Black Pacu (also briefly Pacu called) or Mühlsteinsalmler , Portuguese Tambaqui or Spanish Gamitana ( Colossoma macropomum ) is, with a maximum length of 1.08 meters and a maximum weight of 30 kilograms, the largest tetras .
distribution
He lives in the river basins of the Amazon and the Orinoco . Black Pacus have their natural range from Panama via Venezuela , Colombia , Ecuador and Peru to southern Brazil .
Due to its great adaptability, abandoned specimens have been able to form small local populations in some waters of Hawaii , Florida, and Texas .
Individual specimens have also been found in Poland , Croatia , Scandinavia , France and Austria .
Way of life
Black Pacus prefer a water temperature of over 20 ° C (ideally 26–28 ° C) and sometimes move below 5 meters water depth. They endure a low oxygen content, little mineral-rich water with a lot of suspended matter and are also very disease-resistant. In the floodplain forests of the Amazon region, Black Pacus spawn from September to February and often cover very long distances to their spawning grounds, in some cases up to 1,000 km. Young fish are schooling fish and feed on carnivorous of zooplankton , insects and snails .
nutrition
The adult fish live alone, are herbivores and swim into the flooded forests during the five-month rainy season to eat submerged plants, hard-shelled seeds and fruits. Preferred foods are the seeds of the Amazon rubber trees ( Hevea ssp.) Or Camu-Camu fruits or seeds, which multiply very strongly in intense sunshine. The sound of the rubber tree seeds hitting the surface of the water attracts numerous black pacus, which devour large fat reserves during this period. The hard-shelled seeds are swallowed whole by the large fish and excreted as germinable seeds after passing through the intestinal tract. Black pacus thus play a major role in the ecological system of the tropical floodplain forests on the Amazon. Black Pacus are typical "fruit eaters". Their teeth, which look similar to human teeth, are so strong that they can crack nuts.
Alleged dangerousness
There are said to have been fatal attacks on people by Black Pacus, in which men's testicles were bitten off. Therefore it is also called Ball Cutter (German "Hodenbeißer"). According to CBC News , this is attributed to an unverified report of such a case by a man in Papua New Guinea . Scientists do not consider the fish dangerous:
"They fear humans and will try to escape."
"You are afraid of people and will try to escape."
use
The black pacu is bred in ponds in South America as an economically important food fish . In Manaus , black pacus are often offered in the local markets as typical fish dishes such as peixada ( fish soup ) or tambaqui na brasa (grilled millstone tetra ). The overfishing of the Amazon has already led to the natural population of the Black Pacus having declined significantly and attempts are being made to protect this species of fish from excessive catching and poaching, at least during their spawning season . In Brazil and Colombia , Black Pacus are gaining increasing popularity in commercial fishing ponds due to their easy catchability and great strength.
In Europe you can occasionally see the impressive fish in show aquariums. If kept well, Black Pacus can live up to 20 years here. Black Pacus are not aggressive, but due to their strong lower jaw, improper handling such as B. the careless loosening of the fish hook cause serious injuries. In some aquariums, it is reported that large specimens have damaged the aquarium glass due to their strength.
literature
- RF Da Costa Luiz, Ronaldo, B. Barthem and Maria Mercedes Bittencourt (2001): A pesca do tambaqui, Colossoma macropomum, com enfoque na área do médio solimões, Amazonas, Brasil ( Tambaqui, Colossoma macropomum, fisheries with focus on an area on middle Amazon river, Amazonas State, Brazil ). Acta Amazonica 31: 449-468, ISSN 0044-5967 .
- Axel Zarske: Colossoma macropomum (Cuvier, 1818). Pacu. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 251.
Web links
- Black Pacu on Fishbase.org (English)
- http://www.tierportraet.ch/htm08/pacu.php
- Walter Hödl: The Amazonian fauna - diversity in secret. Catalogs of the Upper Austria. Landesmuseums NF 61, Linz 1992, pp. 451–488 ( PDF (5.3 MB) on ZOBODAT ).
- http://www.faunabrasil.com.br/sistema/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1153 (Portuguese)
- http://pesca-cia.uol.com.br/peixes-do-brasil/agua-doce.aspx?c=269 (Portuguese)
Individual evidence
- ^ Nigel Smith: Palms and People in the Amazon. Springer, 2015, ISBN 978-3-319-05508-4 , p. 210.
- ↑ a b Snappy fish: Researchers discover piranha cousin in the Baltic Sea. Spiegel Online , August 13, 2013, accessed August 17, 2013 .
- ↑ Felicity Morse: Testicle-eating fish, the Pacu, found in Paris The Independent online, September 4, 2013
- ↑ James W. Penn Jr .: Another Boom for Amazonia? Dissertation, 2004, ISBN 1-59942-718-4 , pp. 45, 231, 244.
- ↑ The Oresund Testicle Biter. Berliner Kurier , August 13, 2013, accessed on August 17, 2013 .
- ↑ a b 'Ball cutter' fish nothing to fear, expert says. CBC News , August 14, 2013, accessed August 17, 2013 .