Thered-bellied piranhaorred piranha(Pygocentrus nattereri) is aspeciesofpiranhanative toSouth America, found in theAmazon River Basin, coastal rivers of northeasternBrazil, and the basins of theParaguayandParaná.The red-bellied piranha has a popular reputation as a ferocious predator, despite being primarily scavengers.As their name suggests, red-bellied piranhas have a reddish tinge to the belly when fully grown, although juveniles are a silver colour with darker spots. They grow to a maximum length of 33 centimetres (13in) and a weight of 3.5 kilograms (7.7lb). The way to distinguish males from females is that the female has a slightly deeper color of red on her belly.
Identification: Another commonly used name is Serrasalmus nattereri. Some United States specimens misidentified as members of this species may actually have been closely related species, the Orinoco piranha (Pygocentrus notatus, whose other names include P. caribe and Serrasalmus notatus). Pacus (Colossoma and Piaractus) also have been frequently misidentified as piranhas. Fink (1993) recently reviewed the genus Pygocentrus and provided a key and photographs.
An opportunistic and omnivorous feeder.
