The most bloodthirsty South American fish are piranhas. Piranha fish: description and photo Where does the mainland piranha live
These fish have long been infamous. It is considered right. They are hungry for murder and greedy for blood. Their appetite is insatiable, a flock of piranhas quickly gnaws the carcass of a pig or a ram, deftly tearing the meat from the bones.
However, not all types of piranha are so scary. Some of them are harmless. How do you know what to expect muddy water rivers? The Indians have their own signs.
The victim had no chance. As soon as the trout and the pool, where the piranhas were splashing, flocks of enemies rushed at her, it didn’t take a second, as one of the fish plucked a whole piece from the side of the trout. It was a signal. Spurred on by the hunting instinct, six other piranhas began tearing new pieces out of the trout's body.
Now her stomach was torn. She twitched, trying to dodge, but another squad of assassins - there were now about twenty of them - grabbed the fugitive. A cloud of blood mingled with scraps of innards floated in the water. The trout was no longer visible, and the furious predators kept scurrying about in the muddy water, poking their noses at the invisible outline of the fish.
Suddenly, after some half a minute, the haze passed. The piranhas have calmed down. The desire to kill subsided. Their movements slowed down. From the trout, a fish 30 cm long, there was no trace left.
Common piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri)
Genre classic: vampire and piranha
If you happen to see a piranha hunting in a movie, you will not forget this nightmarish scene. At one sight of it, ancient fears resurrect in the soul of a person. Fragments of old legends revolve in my memory: “It happened on the Rio Negro. Or Rio San Francisco, Xingu, Araguaia... My father fell into the water..."
From Alfred Brem to Igor Akimushkin, animal books are full of stories about bloodthirsty piranhas. “Very often, a crocodile takes flight in front of a wild flock of these fish ... Often these fish overpower even a bull or a tapir ... Dobritzhofer says that two Spanish soldiers ... were attacked and torn to pieces” (A Brem). These messages have become "classics of the genre." From now on, every high school student knew that the rivers of Brazil were teeming with killer fish.
Over time, flocks of fish swam from books and articles to cinema halls. Horror films made about Amazonian predators include Piranha (1978) directed by Joe Dante and Piranha 2 (1981) directed by James Cameron.
Their plots are similar. On the shore of a picturesque lake military base. They grow piranhas there. Accidentally predators fall into the waters of the lake and begin to eat tourists. And in general, the same “Jaws”, only smaller in size, and more in number.
Her name alone makes fans of these films shudder. And hardly any of the experts creepy stories, once in Brazil, will risk entering the waters of the river if he finds out that piranhas are found there.
The first reports of them began to arrive when the conquistadors reached Brazil and went deep into the wilds of the forests. These messages made my blood run cold.
“The Indians, wounded by cannonballs and musket bullets, fell screaming from their canoes into the river, and ferocious piranhas gnawed them to the bone,” wrote a certain Spanish monk who accompanied Gonzalo Pizarro, a gold seeker and adventurer in 1553, during a predatory campaign and lower reaches Amazons. (Horrified by the cruelty of the fish, the pious monk did not think that the Spaniards, who fired cannons at the Indians, were no more merciful than piranhas.)
Since then, the reputation of these fish has been justifiably fearsome. They smelled blood better than sharks. Here is what the German traveler Karl-Ferdinand Appun wrote in 1859 to Guyana: “Intending to take a bath, I only immersed my body in warm waters river, as if headlong jumped out of there and retreated to the shore, because I felt a bite of a piranha on my thigh - just where there was a wound from a mosquito bite, scratched by me to the blood.
Reading such confessions, at some point you catch yourself thinking that piranhas are fiends of hell that escaped from there through an oversight and now tyrannize people and animals. There are no more terrible creatures in the world. An awkward step into the water - and dozens of razor-sharp teeth dig into your leg. God righteous! One skeleton remained... Is it all true?
The golden mean: flooded forest and great land
“It would be naive to demonize piranhas,” writes German zoologist Wolfgang Schulte, author of the recently published book Piranhas. For about 30 years he has studied these tropical predators and, like no one else, knows their two-faced nature: “But it would also be naive to portray them as harmless fish, absolutely not dangerous to humans. The truth lies in the middle."
Over 30 species of piranha live in South America. They feed mainly on small fish, shrimps, carrion and insects.
Only a few piranhas attack warm-blooded animals: among them, for example, red and black piranhas. But these fish are quick to reprisal. If a young heron, having fallen out of the nest, awkwardly flops into the water, “it is surrounded by a flock of piranhas,” writes V. Schulte, “and seconds later only feathers float on the water.”
Piranhas in the aquarium have lunch
He had seen similar scenes himself, although it was not easy to understand river battles meticulously. Even experts have difficulty distinguishing certain types piranhas, as the color of fish changes dramatically with age.
However, the most aggressive piranhas usually feed only on carrion. “They rarely attack living mammals or humans. As a rule, this happens during the dry season, when the fish habitat narrows sharply and there is not enough prey. They also attack individuals with bleeding wounds, ”explains Schulte. If the attack is successful and the victim spurts blood, all the piranhas scurrying nearby rush to her.
So, the aggressiveness of piranhas depends on the season. During the rainy season, the Amazon and Orinoco flood. The water level in them rises by about 15 meters. Rivers flood a vast area. Where the forest has recently grown, boats float, and the rower, having lowered the pole into the water, can reach the crown of the tree. Where the birds sang, the fish are silent.
The flooded forests become a breadbasket for piranhas. They have a great selection of food. The local Indians know this and, fearing nothing, climb into the water. Even children splash in the river, dispersing flocks of piranhas.
Piranha teeth are sharp
Indian children swim in the Orinoco River, teeming with piranhas
Along the fairway of the Orinoco, teeming with "killer fish", lovers of water skiing carelessly ride. Guides carrying tourists on boats do not hesitate to jump into the water, and right from under their feet, tourists catch piranhas with fishing rods.
Miracles and more! Predators behave more modestly than trained lions. But circus lions sometimes have an appetite.
In piranhas, the character changes when the great dry land comes. Then the rivers turn into streams. Their level drops sharply. Everywhere you can see "lagoons" - lakes and even puddles in which fish, caimans and river dolphins who became prisoners. Piranhas, cut off from the river, do not have enough food - they fuss and rush about.
Now they are ready to bite anything that moves. Any living creature that gets into the pond is immediately attacked. It is worth a cow or a horse to lower its muzzle into the lake to drink, as angry fish cling to its lips - they tear out the meat in pieces. Often piranhas even kill each other.
“During a drought, no local resident would dare to swim in such a reservoir,” writes Wolfgang Schulte.
Skeleton in the waves of memory: the fisherman and the river
Harald Schulz, one of the best experts on the Amazon, wrote that in his 20 years in South America, he knew only seven people who were bitten by piranhas, and only one was seriously injured. It was Schultz, who lived among the Indians for a long time, who once came up with an anecdote, ridiculing the fears of Europeans, for whom death is hiding at every turn in the Amazon forests.
Until now, this anecdote wanders from one publication to another, often taken for granted.
“My father was then 15 years old. The Indians were chasing him, and he, running away from them, jumped into a canoe, but the boat was flimsy. She turned over, and he had to swim. He jumped ashore, but that's bad luck: he looks, and only a skeleton remains from him. But nothing more terrible happened to him.
Most often, fishermen become victims of piranhas, while they themselves hunt them. Indeed, in Brazil, piranhas are considered a delicacy. Catching them is easy: you just need to throw a hook tied to a wire into the water (the piranha will bite the usual fishing line) and pull it, depicting the fluttering of the victim.
Right there on the hook hangs a fish the size of a palm. If a fisherman attacks a flock of piranhas, then just know that you have time to throw a hook: every minute you can pull out a fish.
In the passion of hunting, it is easy to become a victim yourself. A piranha thrown out of the water wriggles wildly and gasps for air with its teeth. Taking it off the hook, you can lose your finger. Even dead, it would seem, piranhas are dangerous: the fish seems to have stopped moving, but touch its teeth - the mouth will shrink reflexively, like a trap.
Red pacu (Piaractus brachypomus) herbivorous piranha
How many adventurers who reached the shores of the Amazon or its tributaries lost their fingers in the old days just because they decided to catch fish for dinner. This is how legends were born.
In fact, what is the enemy of piranha at first glance? The fish seems inconspicuous and even dull. Her weapon is "sheathed", but as soon as she opens her mouth, the impression changes. The mouth of a piranha is studded with triangular, razor-sharp teeth resembling daggers. They are positioned so that they snap like a zipper on your clothes.
The manner of hunting inherent in piranha is also unusual (by the way, sharks seem to behave): having stumbled upon a victim, it instantly rushes at it and cuts off a piece of meat; swallowing it, immediately digs into the body again. Similarly, piranha attacks any prey.
Piranha species lunar metinnis (Metynnis luna Sore)
Flag piranha (Catoprion mento)
However, sometimes the piranha itself falls into someone else's mouth. In the rivers of America, she has many enemies: large predatory fish, caimans, herons, river dolphins and freshwater turtles matamata, which are also dangerous for humans. All of them, before swallowing a piranha, try to bite it more painfully to check if it is still alive.
“Swallowing a live piranha is like sticking a working circular saw into your stomach,” notes American journalist Roy Sasser. Piranha is not the prophet Jonah, ready to patiently rest in the belly of a whale: she begins to bite and can kill the predator that caught her.
As already mentioned, the piranha has a superbly developed sense of smell - it smells blood in the water from afar. It is worth throwing bloody bait into the water, as piranhas swim from all over the river. However, we must not forget that the inhabitants of the Amazon and its tributaries can only rely on their sense of smell. The water in these rivers is so turbid that nothing can be seen ten centimeters away from you. It remains only to sniff or listen to prey. The sharper the scent, the higher the chances of survival.
Piranha's hearing is also excellent. Injured fish flounder desperately, generating high frequency waves. The piranhas catch them and swim towards the source of the sound.
However, piranhas cannot be called “insatiable killers”, as it has long been believed. English zoologist Richard Fox placed 25 goldfish in a pool where two piranhas were swimming. He expected that the predators would soon slaughter all the victims, like wolves that penetrated the sheepfold.
However, piranhas killed only one goldfish per day for two, fraternally dividing it in half. They did not deal with the victims for nothing, but killed only to eat.
However, they also did not want to miss the rich prey - a flock of goldfish. Therefore, on the very first day, piranhas bit off their fins. Now the helpless little fish, unable to swim on their own, swayed in the water like floats, tail up, head down. They were a living food supply for the huntresses. Day after day, they chose a new victim and, slowly, ate it.
Amazon "wolves" - friends of the Indians
At home, these predators are real orderlies of rivers (recall that wolves are also called orderlies of the forest). When rivers flood during the rainy season and entire forests are hidden under water, many animals do not have time to escape. Thousands of corpses roll on the waves, threatening to poison all living things around with their poison and cause an epidemic. If it were not for the agility of piranhas, eating these carcasses white to the bone, then people would die from seasonal epidemics in Brazil.
And not only seasonal! Twice a month, on the new moon and full moon, a particularly strong ("syzygy") tide begins: the waters of the Atlantic rush into the depths of the mainland, rushing up the riverbeds. The Amazon begins to flow backwards, spilling over its banks.
Considering that every second the Amazon dumps up to 200,000 cubic meters water, it is easy to imagine!, imagine what a wall of water is rolling back. The river spills for miles.
The consequences of these regular floods are felt even 700 kilometers from the mouth of the Amazon. Small animals are killed again and again by them. Piranhas, like kites, clean the entire area from carrion, which otherwise would rot in the water for a long time. In addition, piranhas exterminate wounded and sick animals, healing the populations of their victims.
Pacu fish, a close relative of piranha, is a vegetarian at all - she is not a forest nurse, but a real arborist. With its powerful jaws, it gnaws nuts, helping their nucleoli to wake up in the soil. Floating through the flooded forest, she eats the fruits, and then, far from the place of the meal, she spews seeds, spreading them, as birds do.
Learning the habits of piranhas, one can only recall with bitterness that at one time the authorities of Brazil, falling under the terrible charm of legends, tried once and for all to put an end to these fish and poisoned them with various poisons, simultaneously exterminating other inhabitants of the rivers.
Well, in the 20th century, man experienced "dizziness from progress." Without hesitation, we tried in our own way to establish a balance in nature, destroying natural mechanisms and each time suffering from the consequences.
natives South America have long learned to get along with piranhas and even made them their helpers. Many Indian tribes living along the banks of the Amazon do not bother digging graves during the rainy season to bury their relatives. They drop dead body into the water, and piranhas, born gravediggers, will leave a little of the deceased.
The Guarani Indians wrap the deceased in a net with large cells and hang it over the side of the boat, waiting for the fish to scrape off all the flesh. Then they decorate the skeleton with feathers and honorably hide (“bury”) in one of the huts.
Black-sided piranha (Serrasalmus humeralis)
Since time immemorial, the jaws of piranhas have been replacing scissors for the Indians. When making arrows poisoned with curare poison, the Indians cut their tips with the teeth of piranhas. In the wound of the victim, such an arrow broke off, the more likely poisoning it.
There are many legends about piranhas. Villages and rivers in Brazil are named after them. In the cities, "piranhas" are called girls of easy virtue, ready to cleanly rob their victim.
Nowadays, piranhas have also begun to be found in the reservoirs of Europe and America. I remember that some tabloid newspapers also reported the appearance of "killer fish" in the Moscow region. It's all about the lovers of the exotic, who, starting at home unusual fish, can, having had enough of a "toy", throw them directly into a nearby pond or sewer.
However, there is no need to panic. The fate of piranhas in our climate is unenviable. These heat-loving animals quickly begin to get sick and die, and they will not survive the winter in open water at all. And they don't look like serial killers, as we have seen.
Piranhas are river hyenas, very dangerous for all mammals and humans, predatory fish. Hearing the word "piranha", a person immediately imagines the frames of the film, where a huge toothy fish is chasing a person. There is some truth in this notion.
Share - because not all piranhas are predators, and not so huge fish. Its average size is 35–50 cm, but there are specimens up to 80 cm.
What are piranhas
There are piranhas that only eat aquatic plants. These include the species Colossoma bidens. The rest of the representatives are predators. Lives in fresh water South Africa about fifty species, the exact number is unknown.
They choose different habitats - some species live in quiet, slow waters, someone prefers a swift and fast current.
Some of them are bred at home. A flock of quiet, small fish will decorate any aquarium. They are fed with squid, capelin and meat.
In nature, several species are predatory, the most dangerous is the species Pygocentrus nattereri.
The most dangerous piranha– Pygocentrus nattereri Features of appearance and behavior
Piranhas vary in size, head shape, skin color shades. Basically, the coloration of adult piranhas is silver-olive in color on the back and sides. On the abdomen there is a purple tint or red. The very edge of the tail is bordered by a bright black line.
But its most distinctive feature is its teeth. With its mouth open, its triangular teeth measuring 5 mm look intimidating. Moreover, they are designed in such a way that when the piranha compresses its jaws, the upper teeth fit tightly between the lower ones, forming a semblance of a continuous sharp razor.
The jaws are driven by very strong muscles, due to which a bite with only the front teeth is sometimes sufficient.
With them, she not only tears out pieces from the victim, but can also bite the bones and veins. There are cases when piranhas bit off with ease human finger or a thick stick.
Piranhas are the only "talking" fish!
Most fish in nature do not make any sounds. Piranhas are an exception to this rule. Surprisingly, they can croak when approaching each other. When fighting, the sound they make is similar to a drum roll. When they are taken out of the water, you can hear sounds resembling an angry bark.
All species of these fish have excellent hearing and sense of smell. They can smell and hear the victim at a distance of 7 km. Moreover, literally a drop of blood from the slightest wound on her body is enough for the piranha to immediately rush to feast.
Schools of fish immediately rush to the place where the prey is located. They are not afraid of either a large animal or fish, which can be 10 times larger in size. If one of the piranhas itself receives a wound, then it is likely that the relatives will attack her as well. Even a crocodile can fold in front of a flock of these ferocious predators and tries to quickly swim away, turning over for safety, belly up.
Many stories are connected with the voracity of piranhas. A case is known when a flock gnawed a pig that fell into the water to the bone. Fishermen often become their victims. Piranha meat is edible, reminiscent of perch. Especially tasty when fried. They catch it with a bait, and if the fisherman is careless when removing the fish from the hook, this is where it can cut off his finger. Not in vain from the tongue different peoples the name "piranha" is translated as "toothy devil", "evil fish", "pirate".
But most of these stories are exaggerated. Aggressive piranhas become only at a time when the reservoirs dry up. The fish have nothing to eat, and you have to eat everything that comes across. During the rainy season, when the rivers are full, people both swim and boat quietly next to the swimming piranhas.
Piranha is known for its aggressiveness, so its danger to humans is not in doubt. A flock of these fish is capable of leaving only a skeleton of their prey in a few seconds, without exaggeration. Thanks to its teeth, the fish can easily cling to any prey and tear off a piece from it. Every year, approximately 80 people suffer from piranha bites, despite the fact that only a few prey on warm-blooded mammals among them, in particular, "red" and "black".
Wounds left after piranha teeth are always serious, and never heal completely. Many are left without body parts - a finger or a hand. But, in fact, up to 50 grams of meat is enough for one fish to get enough. According to recent studies, their aggressiveness is also exaggerated. They don't attack anything that gets in their way. Their period of bloodthirstiness falls on the time of spawning and the dry period. In other cases, this fish is unusually cowardly, and would rather swim away from danger than fight it. So, in the rainy season, when the water level rises by 15 meters, and the flooded forests become a real feast for piranhas, locals quietly climb into the water. Unless, of course, they have a bleeding wound. To date, not a single case has been recorded when a piranha ate a person.
Piranhas (piranhas) are a family of fish of the cyprinoid order. The body is laterally compressed, high, up to 60 cm long. Powerful jaws bear sharp, wedge-shaped teeth.
St. 50 species, in fresh waters South
America. Mostly flocking predators, attacking fish and other animals, dangerous to humans (a flock of common piranhas can destroy a large animal in a few minutes). Herbivorous species cleanse water bodies of aquatic vegetation. Small species are kept in aquariums, where they lose their aggressiveness.
What are they famous for?
Gluttony, sharp as a razor
teeth and bad temper.
Piranhas are small, on average up to 30 cm in length, fish inhabit the rivers of South America. Young piranhas are silver-blue in color, with dark speckles, but darken with age and acquire a black mourning color. Despite their small stature, piranhas are one of the most voracious fish. The razor-sharp teeth of a piranha, when it closes its jaws, adjoin each other like a folded lock of fingers. With his teeth, he can easily bite a stick or a finger.
Shepherds driving herds across rivers where piranhas are found have to give one of the animals. And while the predators are cracking down on the victim, away from this place, the entire herd is safely transported to the other side. Wild animals proved to be no less intelligent than humans. To drink water or cross a river where piranhas are found, they begin to attract the attention of predators with the noise or splash of water. And when the flock of piranhas rush to the noise, the animals along the shore move to safe place, there quickly drink or cross the river.
The quarrelsome nature of piranhas makes them often quarrel and attack each other. But some amateur aquarists, in spite of everything, run the risk of keeping these fish at home.
Piranhas attack everything. creature within their reach: large fish, domestic and wild animals in the river, humans. Alligator - and he tries to get out of their way.
Oddly enough, piranhas - caring parents and drive everyone away from their dwelling.
Piranhas are one of the most famous fish that inhabit the Amazon. They belong to the class Bone fish, the Kharacin family.
Fish of the piranha family (Serrasalmidae) are characterized by a high body compressed from the sides.
There are several types of piranhas, the largest of which reaches 60 cm in length, weighing up to 1 kg, common piranha- twice smaller.
Piranhas hunt for everything that moves in the water, they do not take anything from the bottom.
These bloodthirsty predators have powerful jaws with very sharp, cutting teeth. They are able to bite through a steel hook and tear the skin of a large mammal. Piranhas gather in flocks and attack the animal, dealing with it with lightning speed, for example, they gnaw an adult tapir to the bone in a minute. Piranhas are attracted to splashes and movements in the water, and especially the smell of blood. They are also dangerous for a person who accidentally finds himself in the water. This small but dangerous fish is endowed with powerful muscles and a fairly wide tail fin, which allows it to swim very quickly.
Young fish are very beautiful: a blue body with dark spots, a crimson chest and paired fins, a black caudal fin with a vertical blue stripe. The color of piranha can be from brown-green to silver-black, depending on which of the eighteen species it belongs to. Adults acquire a gloomy color: they are either completely black or studded with gold sparkles. A menacing appearance is given to piranhas by the tips of sharp wedge-shaped teeth sticking out of the parted thick lips, the number of which varies on the upper and lower jaws - 66 and 77, respectively. Probably, it was these teeth that became the reason for the appearance of many terrible stories about the bloodthirstiness of piranhas. Still: as a result of a group attack in 10-15 seconds from the victim, for example big fish, only fragments remain. They react very strongly to blood, as this is due to their function in nature: piranhas eat primarily sick or injured animals.
So, a drop of blood, dropped from a pipette into a 250-liter aquarium, in 30-40 seconds leads hungry piranhas into a frenzy. Therefore, you should not be in those waters where piranhas live with an open wound.
They live in the rivers and lakes of South America, including in the basins of the Paraguay, Amazon and Orinoco rivers. Here, piranhas gather in foamy shoals, and predators make massive raids on their victims. They feed on fish, amphibians, birds and mammals; herbivorous species - aquatic plants.
Nature gave aggressive piranhas the ability to quickly regenerate: their wounds heal literally in a matter of days, or even hours, without even leaving a trace.
Piranhas have quite peaceful relatives - colossoms and metinises. Outwardly, these fish are very similar to their deadly "sisters", only they have a flatter body, without powerful muscles, and there is no prominent lower jaw. And they eat aquatic plants. At home, these fish were considered useful: eating rapidly growing algae, they do not allow the reservoir to turn into a swamp. The natives make necklaces from the teeth of piranhas, as well as razors and saws for sawing wood.
How piranhas hunt.
dark waters The Amazons hide the turbulent life of its inhabitants. The bottom of the river is covered with layers of rotting silt, densely overgrown with plants. But a pair of large rounded fish swims out to a platform free from vegetation, scaring away peacefully swimming diverse living creatures. These fish have a strangely shaped head - short and blunt , with a protruding lower jaw and they are covered with small shiny scales, somewhat reminiscent of chain mail. Because of this jaw, they are somewhat similar to bulldogs, the resemblance is completed by frequent sharp teeth. These are the legendary predatory piranhas, probably familiar to you from adventure films and books.
But for now, the piranhas are peaceful. One began to “cut” aquatic plants with her teeth - this is a male, so he prepares a place for throwing caviar. Here the female swept out several portions of gelatinous caviar, which settled to the bottom. Piranhas guard the masonry for only one night, and by the morning they leave the cherished place, leaving the fry to the mercy of fate.
A few hours later, the couple caught up with their flock, from which they fought off for the sake of spawning. And the fight is in full swing in the flock - piranhas are attacking the caiman. He inadvertently attempted to swim across the river deep place and got ambushed. Piranhas attack the reptile in a crowd, tear out pieces of meat, greedily eat them and again rush to the victim. Sometimes, in a fit of uncontrollable hunger and rage, they even bite each other. But even wounded, they strive to get an extra piece of caiman.
The caiman's strength is running out, but he still tries to swim - away, away from dangerous place! The last jerk of the mighty body - but no, the strength has dried up ... The caiman slowly sinks to the bottom, and the piranhas close over it, continuing the feast.
Behind the piranhas, a brilliant flock of pimelodus angels is moving, happily eating up the smallest remnants of the predators' meal. And the predators themselves, having eaten, leave, and for several days after that, peace and tranquility will reign in a flock of piranhas.
In a special subfamily, the genera Mylosoma (Mylossoma), whose representatives feed on animal and vegetable food, Metynnis (Metynnis), which feed mainly on aquatic vegetation, and the genera Kolosoma and Mileus (Colossoma, Myleus), which feed on fruits falling into the water, are distinguished into a special subfamily.
Metinnis are of great benefit, clearing reservoirs of overgrown aquatic vegetation, therefore they are protected in the countries of South America, their export is prohibited. Some previously exported specimens are bred in amateur and public aquariums, which the fish decorate with a pure silver color or another, brighter one - a blue body with dark large spots on the sides effectively contrasts with the crimson-red chest and fins.
common piranha
Common piranha (Serrasalmus nattereri, pygocentrus nattereri), also known as the red-bellied piranha or Natterer's piranha, belongs to the characin family and the piranha subfamily.
There is also another classification in which the fish is placed in a separate family of piranhas (Serrasalmidae).
Despite the formidable reputation and some difficulties in keeping, this fish is quite popular among aquarists.
The homeland of the Natterer is South America, exclusively fresh water. AT brackish water the fish is able to exist, but spawning in such conditions is impossible.
The adults in wild nature able to reach 30 cm, in an aquarium their size does not exceed 20 cm. They prefer to stay in groups, they become shy one by one, trying to be in shelters more often than in plain sight.
Unusual color of fish young age have a bluish-silver color with a red belly, and red anal and ventral fins. Placers of dark spots are visible on the body, which disappear with time. Adult fish acquire darker tones, which are dominated by gray and steel, the red abdomen turns pale, a black border appears along the edge of the anal fin. Further bright colours piranhas will only show during the spawning season.
It is quite difficult to distinguish a male from a female Natterer, since the differences are poorly expressed. Females are larger than males, their abdomen is larger and strongly swollen with eggs. The anal fin has a rounded shape, while in males it is pointed.
In an aquarium, the Natterer Parinha has a lifespan of 10 years or more.
Conditions
Depending on whether it is planned to breed piranhas in the future or not, the size of the aquarium for their maintenance will vary significantly. When breeding is not planned, a volume of 80-100 liters will be quite enough for a pair of fish. There are references that the fish feel great even in a smaller volume, but in such cases they are unlikely to be able to reach their maximum size, which can affect their health and life expectancy.
If breeding red-bellied piranha is planned in the future, the minimum volume for a pair of fish is 150 liters. It is recommended to keep fish in a group of 10 individuals, respectively, the volume of the aquarium will be required from 300l.
Due to the nature of Natterer nutrition, their maintenance requires the most powerful filter, compressor and replacement of a third of the volume of water weekly. Water parameters should be as follows: temperature - 27-28 ° C, hardness - up to 15 ° dH, acidity - 6-7 pH. It requires constant monitoring of water parameters, as well as the amount of nitrite and ammonia, as the fish are very sensitive to any changes.
Coarse sand or pebbles can be used as soil. The aquarium must have different kind shelters, snags. The presence of plants is desirable, but it is not uncommon for piranhas to destroy all vegetation. In that case fit artificial plants, but be prepared for such a development of events, when an unscheduled “haircut” can also make artificial decorations.
Important! When cleaning the aquarium or transplanting plants, it is recommended to plant your pets in a reserve tank. Once again, do not stick your hands into the Natterer's piranha aquarium, especially when there are unhealed wounds on your hands. These fish are extremely shy, in a state of fright they can seriously bite the offender, and when they smell blood, they become completely aggressive and are able to attack sharply.
The lighting in the piranha tank is preferably extremely moderate.
Feeding
There are no problems with the nutrition of the red-bellied piranha. This fish eats almost everything that is offered to it, however, it prefers live food. It is recommended to feed them with fish, minced fish, earthworms, occasionally lean beef. Frequent feeding of mammalian meat is undesirable. For young medium-sized fish, a tubifex, a bloodworm, a coretra are suitable. It is advisable to give large pieces of food to large individuals, since they will not pick up small pieces of food that have fallen to the bottom of the Natterer. After feeding, leftover food must be removed immediately to prevent rotting.
It is required to ensure that your pets are always full, otherwise they are able to engage in cannibalism, eating the smallest brothers.
Compatibility with other fish
Piranha Natterera is a predator, so its compatibility with other types of fish is very conditional. Sooner or later, any neighbors can become food for a hungry huntress. To keep these fish, it is recommended to use a species aquarium in which it is necessary to populate fish of the same size, otherwise smaller individuals will be constantly attacked by their large relatives.
Breeding Natterer piranhas is a rather complicated process; in captivity, fish spawn much less often than in the wild. First of all, to stimulate spawning, you will need a spacious aquarium of 300-500 liters, and possibly more. A group of piranhas for breeding should consist of 10-20 individuals, in which males will predominate. The aquarium should have warm (27-28°C) and soft (up to 6°dH) water, a lot of plants, among which the couple can dig a nest for eggs. Sometimes, to stimulate spawning, fish have to do pituitary injections.
A pair ready for spawning digs a hole in the sand, into which the female spawns. The number of eggs can reach several thousand eggs. Incubation of eggs lasts from 2 to 8-10 days. All the time until the larvae appear, and then they turn into independent fry, the nest will be extremely aggressively guarded by the male. And even juveniles at first can still be under his vigilant supervision.
As the fry grow, they should be placed in a nursery tank, carefully calibrated, as cannibalism flourishes among the younger generation. The first food for juveniles is brine shrimp, then, as they grow, they switch to larger foods.
Natterer piranha reaches sexual maturity at about 18 months of age.
Video: Natterera piranha
Piranha - type freshwater fish living in the rivers of the jungle of South America.
Piranhas are found in almost every country in South America, and in recent times Also in the southern United States. Piranhas are small to medium sized predatory fish that inhabit the rivers of the humid South American forests. Some piranhas can be found in warm lakes and rivers North America and in Bangladesh. The word "Piranha" means "fish tooth" in the indigenous languages of the Amazon.
The exact number of piranha species is unknown (between 30 and 60). In nature, they are not threatened by any danger of extinction.
The silvery body of the piranha is covered with reddish spots that serve as camouflage in dirty waters that they inhabit.
Piranha can reach 5.5-17 inches in length and weigh about 7.7 pounds.
Most people think that piranhas have an insatiable craving for blood, but they are actually omnivores (eating both animals and plants). They tend to eat snails, fish, aquatic animals and plants, seeds and fruits. They also attack mammals and birds when they enter the water.
The sharp and pointed teeth of piranhas are arranged in one row. They can bite through a silver hook. Their jawbones are so strongly developed that a piranha can bite through human hand in 5-10 seconds. Local Indian tribes have used piranha teeth since ancient times to make weapons and other tools.
Just like sharks, piranhas have special bodies senses that help them identify the blood in the water. Piranhas are cannibals (they can devour members of their own species). They will attack and eat other piranhas when other sources of meat are not available.
Scary movies depict piranhas as ferocious cannibals that can overeat human body within a few seconds. In fact, despite the fact that they live and eat in large groups, piranhas need a lot of time to gnaw on large prey.
Groups of piranhas, called shoals, have an average of 1,000 fish.
Dolphins, crocodiles and turtles are the biggest enemies of piranhas.
Mating takes place during the rainy season in April and May.
Piranha females can lay up to 5,000 eggs. Since neither males nor females take care of future offspring, 90% of the eggs do not survive to hatch.
They live up to 25 years in the wild and 10-20 years in captivity. 
The piranha has one row of razor-sharp teeth. It feeds on fish, mammals and birds. Despite their predatory nature, the piranha is actually an omnivore and will eat just about anything it can find. Piranhas mainly feed on fish, snails, insects and aquatic plants.
Despite their intimidating appearance, piranhas actually have a number of predators in the wild, including humans who hunt piranhas for food. Piranhas are hunted large predators such as river dolphins (known as Botos), crocodiles, turtles, birds and large fish.
Piranhas tend to be about 30 cm long, but some specimens that have been found have been almost 80 cm long. Most people are more afraid of piranhas than even sharks.
Piranhas tend to live in rivers with fast current and streams where there is plenty of food. Piranhas live together in large schools and constantly compete for food.
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South America is famous for many curiosities, including piranha fish. Piranha is translated from the language of South American Indians as "tooth fish". This name very accurately characterizes a fish that exposes its teeth to the public. This is due to the special anatomical structure jaws. The jaw muscles are very strong and the teeth are very sharp. Thanks to this, piranhas do not tear their prey in parts, but cut it off. sharp teeth pieces of meat. Piranha teeth are very sharp and can even damage metal on occasion.
Piranhas are cannibals and will gladly pounce on their wounded compatriots. In general, these are extremely voracious and dangerous fish, which even crocodiles are afraid of. There are many legends and myths about their bloodthirstiness. But, fortunately, most species of piranhas are completely harmless, and only four species of piranhas show aggression and can be dangerous to humans. There is even evidence of fish attacks on people. Fortunately, none of these cases ended in death.
Piranha - freshwater predator dangerous for both animals and humans. Now there are more than 20 species of these fish.
The most famous and widespread species is the common piranha. This fish has a rather exotic appearance: a large mouth with a protruding lower jaw, studded with sharp teeth. This gives her appearance a rather intimidating look. The size of the fish is small, no more than 15 cm, occasionally there are individuals 20 cm long. But some can grow up to 50 cm in length.
Accordingly, the weight of piranhas is also small and very rarely reaches 1 kg.
Different types of piranhas differ from each other in color, but most of fish are painted olive green, or, there is such a combination - a black-blue back, abdomen and sides are silver-gray or dark.
When hunting for fish, piranhas rely on their speed and surprise. They guard their prey in a secluded place, from where they swiftly attack at a convenient time. With the whole flock, they pounce on the prey and devour it. In this case, each individual acts for itself.
Surprisingly subtle sense of smell helps them to detect prey. They discover blood near them immediately after its appearance. Piranhas immediately pounce on the victim in a crowd. Fish that are subjected to such a rapid attack begin to panic and scatter in an attempt to save their lives. Fast piranhas catch them one by one. They swallow small fish whole, and big booty tear to pieces. Rather, they tear off pieces of meat from large fish, which they immediately swallow, and then, again, dig into their prey.
In nature, piranhas gather in large flocks and spend most of their time in search of food. Although piranhas are river fish, they can also be found in the sea during floods. But here they have no opportunity for spawning. Spawning usually takes place from March to August. At this time, thousands and thousands of eggs fall into the reservoirs. Depending on water temperature incubation period caviar is 10 to 15 days.
Contrary to popular belief, adults do not form large schools. In some aquariums, when breeding piranhas, it was noticed that piranhas keep a very decent distance from each other. And when it was time for feeding, they unanimously pounced on the food in a tight formation. When feeding ended, the necessary distance was restored. It was also noticed that when the density of piranhas became uncomfortable for them (too high), a fight broke out between them.
Piranhas feed mainly on fish, but do not disdain birds in the water. But there were no cases of killing people.
Piranhas are very voracious, so they have to live only in rivers where fish is found in abundance. Most often they can be found in shallow water, in muddy water and at great depths.
Piranhas are common in the waters of South America. Most large populations Piranhas live in the rivers of Venezuela, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil, Guyana and Central Argentina. The habitat of piranhas covers tens of millions of square kilometers. It can be said that from eastern borders Andes to the Atlantic.
The common piranha is popular in the aquarium hobby. AT aquarium conditions she is shy, and behaves very cautiously. In nature, fish find many shelters and secluded places for themselves, which they lack in an aquarium. The aquarium should have soft, slightly acidic water with neutral reaction and good filtration. Constantly support normal level The presence of mangrove root snags in the aquarium will help the pH.
But most countries prohibit breeding these fish at home. And, probably, this is correct, since there are many pranksters-owners who like to release these fish into natural reservoirs “for fun” and see what happens. As a result of such actions, the press often broadcasts about toothy monsters, which are caught either in the Vistula, or in the Volga, or somewhere else. Fortunately, winters are more severe everywhere than in the Amazon, so fish cannot adapt to such cold rivers. So piranhas live only in their native South America.