Red Bellied Piranha Facts

Red Bellied Piranha Facts

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1. Piranhas live throughout the river systems of South America. 

2. This species of fish inhabits whitewater rivers and streams in South America, and is often found in murky water. 

3. Average adult length is 6 to 8 inches, although they can grow up to 20 inches. They are blue-gray or brownish on their upper body with red on their fins and underbelly. 

4. Its powerful jaws house triangular, interlocking, razor-sharp teeth, which can cut through flesh and bone.  Their lower jaw sticks out farther than the upper jaw. 

5. Piranhas usually eat animals smaller than they are including insects, aquatic invertebrates and other fish, but groups of piranha may attack larger animals. This species of fish also may eat fruit.

6. Piranhas live in large groups called “schools.” When not feeding, piranhas maintain a rigid system of spacing between individuals. When feeding however, they may converge in a frenzied mass.

7. The red piranha feeds communally, with groups of 20-30 individuals waiting in vegetation to ambush their prey. 

8. Lateral line system picks up changes in water pressure, currents, and the movements of other animals in the water.

9. Young piranhas are known as “fry” and a group is known as a “shoal”. Piranhas swallow their food whole.

10. Piranhas have small, triangular, razor-sharp teeth and powerful jaws. When the jaws close, the teeth interlock like scissors enabling these fish to cut and tear prey. Most fish can only eat prey items small enough to swallow whole. This adaptation allows piranhas to eat food that most other fish cannot. Piranha teeth are similar in shape and action to those of sharks. Their blunt snout and jutted lower jaw also help piranha attack and bite with considerable force.

11. Piranhas have several hunting methods. When food is plentiful, they lurk in the vegetation and dash out to ambush passing prey. They also chase prey and have even been observed scavenging on dead animals. During the dry season when they are trapped in small pools that are drying up, schools of piranha become extremely aggressive resulting in a feeding frenzy whenever food is available. By hunting as a group, they can even kill large prey such as capybara.

12. The word “piranha” means “tooth fish” in a South American Indian dialect. 

13. Piranhas replace their teeth throughout their lifetime. Unlike sharks that shed and replace individual teeth, piranhas replace their teeth in quarters. New teeth grow within a couple of days. 

14. Despite their reputation, there has never been a documented human fatality caused by piranha although many people have been bitten by this aggressive fish.

15. The bite force of a piranha is three times its body weight; a great white sharks bite force only matches its body weight! 

16. There are over 500 species of piranhas and some never eat meat but are herbivorous! 

17. Piranhas are illegal to own as pets in over 20 states 

18. Young piranhas have been known to feed on the fins of other fish, but don’t worry these fins will heal in just a short time. 

19. Piranhas help to keep rivers clean by eating injured or dead animals. 

20. The red-bellied piranha is a common food fish for local communities and is also caught for use as bait for larger catfish.

21. Of the 18 piranhas species, only four are considered dangerous. The red-bellied piranha is one of these, it will bite when underfed, overcrowded or threatened. They also bite anything that moves where blood is present in the water.

22. The piranhas teeth are also used as scissors or razor blades by the native tribes.

23. When a school of piranha are in a feeding frenzy the water appears to boil and churn red with blood. They attack with such ferocity that they can strip an animal of its flesh within a matter of minutes, even taking bites out of each other in the process.

24. The female piranha lays an average of 5,000 eggs and due to the fact that the male piranha and the female piranha defend their protected eggs so effectively, more than 90% often survive and hatch after just a few days.

25. Some people say the human-ripping piranha legend was started by Teddy Roosevelt .It’s true that a piranha will rarely attack humans.