Edit Pygocentrus nattereri
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Name
Scientific name
Pygocentrus nattereri
Described by
Authority Kner, Year 1858
Family
Serrasalmidae
Summary
The red bellied piranha, Pygocentrus nattereri, occurs through much of the Amazon basin and south into the Paraná and Uruguay river systems…
Size and aquarium
Maximum size
350mm, standard length
Tank size
Minimum length 240 cm, Minimum depth 90 cm, Minimum height 60 cm
Water
Temperature and pH
Temperature 24–28°C, pH 5.5–7.5
Hardness
2–12dGH
Conductivity
Not recorded
Behaviour
Temperament
Not recorded
Social needs
A shoal or group
Community suitability
Not for a community
Where it lives
Countries
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
Supporting text
Etymology
Pygocentrus: from the Ancient Greek πῡγή (pūgḗ), meaning 'rump', and κέντρον (kéntron), meaning 'sharp point, thorn, spine', in reference to the serrated abdom…
Distribution
Currently accepted to occur throughout much of the Amazon basin (Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and questionably Colombia), as well as the Río Essequibo (Guya…
Habitat
Found in most habitat-types across its range including major river channels, smaller tributaries, oxbows, floodplain lakes, and artificial lakes formed by dams.
Aquarium size
Suitable only for public installations or the very largest private aquaria.
Maintenance
Some aquarists maintain this species in bare-bottomed arrangements for ease of maintenance, but standard aquarium gravel or sand are both suitable substrates. …
Water conditions
Not written yet
Diet
Pygocentrus spp. are not exclusive carnivores and are more accurately described as opportunistic generalists. The natural diet consists of live fishes plus aqu…
Behaviour and compatibility
Best-maintained alone, although adults do not tend to prey on much smaller fishes. It is often said that wild P. nattereri hunt in voracious packs, but usually…
Sexual dimorphism
Females generally attain a larger adult size and exhibit a more-rounded body shape than males.
Reproduction
Wild populations exhibit two annual reproductive seasons, the first during the rising of the water level at the onset of the wet season, and the second during …
Notes
Famed as a rapacious predator capable of rapidly stripping flesh from bone and a danger to any animal entering its native waters, P. nattereri is among the mos…
References
References
14 on this profile