Talk:Piranha

go to http://www.amersol.edu.pe/ms/7th/7block/jungle_research/new_cards/03/3card.html for info contains a graphic image <-- now dead link 404

Giant Piranha

What about this one, is it a Piranha or not? [1]

If yes, then the max. size of 41 cm should be updated. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.184.87.128 (talk) 01:43, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Scary looking fish, but doesn't look anything like a piranha. Matt Deres 18:23, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

That is a tiger fish, of the genus Hydrocynus. It is a gigantic predatory tetra, in the same family as the better known, and far safer Congo Tetra.--Mr Fink 18:26, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

Swarming

There's not one word in the article about how piranhas swarm around large animals and eat them in minutes. Maybe it's just an urban legend, but even so it should be mentioned.

Article is Lacking

When I first found this article, it is very lacking in information when compared to other extant fauna. There's no taxobox nor is there binomial nomenclature. There's no information on possible multiple species of piranha. There's not even a mention of red-bellied piranha or an image of a piranha. Why has this page been ignored, when other fish have not? Ryulong 19:33, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

• This was due to obvious vandalism that was overlooked. I have fixed this now. Mgiganteus1 08:00, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

• I do agree, not only is this article lacking it is way off the mark, and looks like the author was just making it up as he went along. i have been studing piranha for 5 years now, so here are my warrented complaints;

1. "In Venezuelan rivers they are called caribes" caribe is a type of pirahna sometimes confused with Pygocentrus nattereri "red belly p's" but can be seperated by the distinct black spot on the side of the head

2." Serrasalminae" wrong. Serrasalmus are the more agressive breed of p, and in no way are pacu or silver dollars catigorized under Serrasalmus

3. "They are normally about 15 to 25 cm long (6 to 10 inches)" different breeds of p warrant diffrent sizes. the black, or, Serrasalmus rhombus are the biggest reaching up to 18"

4. and there is no need to constantly or regurly change a p's diet, as long as its more than just gold fish, add in some night crawlers and shrimp and you'll have a healthy p.

here are some proper names for the diff. species:

Pygocentrus nattereri Pygocentrus cariba Pygocentrus piraya Serrasalmus altuvei Serrasalmus compressus Serrasalmus eigenmanni Serrasalmus elongatus Serrasalmus geryi Serrasalmus maculatus Serrasalmus manueli Serrasalmus medinai Serrasalmus rhombeus Serrasalmus sanchezi Serrasalmus spilopleura Pygopristis denticulata Pristobrycon striolatus Catoprion mento any questions about anything piranha related feel free to email me @ gesue@sprint.blackberry.net

Alleged danger to humans

I've requested a citation for the following excerpt:"Piranha fish do not have the same sensory system that enables sharks to detect blood in miniscule amounts, so it is not believed that swimming with an open cut would provoke an attack."

I think, that this excerpt and the whole section is too soft. For example, in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd. ed.) is written (rough translation into English): "In huge shoals they attack any prey. Piranhas are attracted by splashes of water and the smell of blood. Particularly dangerous for the human are four species of large piranhas, two of which are well-known: ordinary piranha (Rooseveltiella nattereri) and big piranha (Pygocentrus piraya). After being placed into aquarium, they loose their aggressiveness". Is this info obsolete (please, cite your sources in your reply)? If not, then should this be included in some form into the article? Cmapm 13:20, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

That is what usually is printed about Piranhas, however, somewhere I think I have heard that the Piranha is in fact not as bloodthirsty as it is rumoured to be, and that stories about Piranhas eating swimmers in a matter of minutes are urban legends, but I have no sources on it. Could anyone with some information on this bring clarity into this question? Uhu219 15:31, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Here's something: Piranha 'less deadly than feared' It does't talk about their ability to detect blood (if they can), but it's a fairly recent study on how aggressive piranhas are. --Corilof 18:16, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Redirect from Serrasalminae should removed

I believe there should be a separate page for Serrasalminae -- it should not be redirected to piranha, since pacú are also in that subfamily.

In checking through the 69 species of pacú (note not all the fish listed on this page are pacú -- the search also includes common names including the letters p-a-c-u in their common name) on FishBase, I found that all pacú on FishBase.org are listed in the subfamily Serrasalminae. I therefore changed the subfamily in the pacú taxobox to Serrasalminae from Characinae.

The pacú relationship to piranha makes a little more sense that way too, but the redirect from Serrasalminae is now confusing.

--Renice 17:50, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

I've removed the redirect and expanded the Serrasalminae page to point to the 3 general types denoted by their common names. --Renice 23:30, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Piranha Predators

Anyone know what exactly is a predator of pirahna? 69.166.47.185 04:06, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Caiman, catfish and herons are all predators of piranha.207.200.116.65 00:00, 26 September 2006 (UTC)jade

No There Not Piranha Eat All Those Every Once In A While They May Eat A Dead Piranha But That Does Not Qualify Them To Be A Preadator24.178.196.124 20:31, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Wouldn't the other piranha in the school eat the dead one first? I've heard quite a lot that in addition to being predatory, piranha are also oppurtunistic scavengers and it seems to me that they wouldn't have any qualms about eating one of their fellows if he was already dead.

I've also heard that some people in the Amazon hunt piranha - the fact that their teeth are said in this article to be "used in weapons and tools" would seem to lend some support to that - and thus I must ask if humans could be considered a predator of the piranha, or whether an exception is usually made in such things when it comes to human hunters. Runa27 16:34, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Piranha are certainly canabalistic in captivity. In the wild this tendency would likely surface in times of food shortage though that is just an educated guess. And yes, despite their fearsome reputation they are prey to just about all the predators of fish their size in their range. Caimen, larger predatory fish, birds etc as mentioned. I think their range coincides with some otters who would certainly take them as of course does man as they are good eating. --LiamE 23:11, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I've found them to be similar in palette taste to large panfish like bluegills.50.111.44.55 (talk) 22:27, 12 June 2021 (UTC)

• red tail cat fish

I posted this link in one of the talk sections above, but I'll post it here again since it applies: Piranha 'less deadly than feared'

Found in the Amazon, piranha fish have been portrayed as killer carnivores who work together to overwhelm their prey and strip its flesh.

But experts from St Andrews University say that piranhas are omnivores who mainly eat fish, plants and insects.

Doesn't really say much, but I'll just throw that in there since everyone seems to have the popular belief that they're fearsome predators.--Corilof 18:21, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Why aren't these addressed?

Something that I didn't see being addressed in this article was the idea that piranha only hang out in fairly still water (and that locals only swim in running or swift-running water for this reason). Assuming this idea is correct, it should be pointed out; assuming it is correct for only select species of piranha, this should be pointed out; and assuming it is false, why is it not debunked? I can't remember where I first saw it, but I could swear I've been hearing and reading about it for years, so surely it's a reasonably notable concept regarding the piranha, yes? Also, the piranha is such an infamous fish, why is its affect on both the local South American culture(s) and the foreign (including North American) culture, including pop culture, not examined or even really hinted at? I'm not saying EVERY piranha reference should be included, but surely there's SOMETHING of interest or something notable that could be included other than the fact that some locals use the teeth in tools and weapons? Runa27 16:34, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Piranha love moving water. They also are very happy to eat each other if the fish is physically compromised e.g. hooked by a fisherman.

The above comment was imbedded in mine as a response. For clarity's sake, I moved it, but did not change the content. Thank you for the answer, by the way! -user:Runa27, not signed in.

Should not the habits of piranhas, such as their eating each other, be included in the article? Actually, this article seems to lack any information about the social comportment of piranhas toward each others apart from that detail about hooks. 66.130.177.54 04:54, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Semi-protection

Are you guys sure it's protected, because some IP just vandalized it. TeckWiz^TalkContribs_@ 19:56, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

It's not. Incorrectly used template removed. Femto 20:27, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Disagreement

The statement made about feeding of piranhas is misguiding.

"Some owners suggest that in order to keep a piranha from only accepting one type of food, it is necessary to change types of food often. However, if the piranha is being fed goldfish, shrimp, or another type of nutritious food, the same thing may be given everyday."

First, any experienced piranha keeper will tell you that variation in the types of food being fed (fish, shrimp, clams, insects, even berries) is important for a balanced diet and a healthy piranha. A second point I would like to make is that it in piranha keeping circles the feeding of goldfish as the major staple in a piranhas diet is considered both unhealthy and dangerous due to the goldfish's propensity for carrying disease and parasites. So called "feeder" goldfish are sold for pennies at pet shops but often are housed in deplorable, overstocked tanks. Any live prey that is fed to a pet piranha should be quarantined before feeding. As a side note many, if not all members of the Cyprinid family, to which goldfish belong as well as minnows, carp and other popular aquarium fish, contain a hormone that inhibits thiamine production, which in turn is said to inhibit the growth of the predator. (searching for the reference). I suppose that some of this is a bit out of the scope of the article given its current state. If the "piranhas as pets" section were expanded a bit to include a bit more on piranhas as pets it would be important I think to have accurate (in so far as the current knowledge of piranhas nutritional needs allows) information on the feeding of these animals.Yurtle69 22:02, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

I corrected this in the article. -(User:runa27, not logged in)

Relationship to humans

...It is important to keep Pygocentrus piranhas either singularly or in groups of three or more...

...When kept in groups, it is recommended that they are in even-numbered groups, as piranhas will gang up on an odd member...

It's already tagged for cleanup, but this particular contradiction (within a single paragraph) struck me. Which one is right? -- MiG 09:12, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

how come it doesnt tell why they live where they do??? November4,2007 also coloring and markings would be nice to know!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.78.254.97 (talk) 18:24, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Legality in the US

Why are piranha illegal to have as pets in the US? The article doesn't say whether this is conservation driven or a safety issue.--ML5 (talk) 11:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I am not an authority on the subject, I only worked in a pet store in Kentucky and can only relate to you what I was told. If you notice, almost all of the states where the piranha is illegal are "southern states" and are within the Humid Subtropical climate (Kentucky included); therefore, people believe that piranha can become an introduced species that may be dangerous to the indigenous fauna and flora as well as to the human population. I have heard several stories of people catching piranha in the Ohio River, even being bitten. The schools supposedly overwinter in areas where warm water is regularly released into the river such as near power plants, a factory, etc. That is all I know and I cannot affirm that this is hard fact, as I said, it is only what I was told as a pet store worker by the fish supplier for the store (it was a pretty large and reputable supplier, though). Also, I think that the 1970's (or 80's?) movie "Piranha!" may have something to do with this legislation, but that is just my own opinion. I hope this helps or was at least interesting. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.224.3.238 (talk) 07:26, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

Domesticated piranha?

Are they really domesticated, per se, or are they just captive-bred? 75.209.61.196 (talk) 23:21, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

I know of no pet fisheries that go to the trouble and expense of raising such a specialty item as piranha, when they are so easily caught/imported.22:30, 12 June 2021 (UTC)

James Bond

Is it feasible to murder people by dropping them in a pool of piranhas ?--Streona (talk) 16:36, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

- It doesn't matter, it is stated that it is a legend and definitely occurs in the universe of the film. 82.38.153.119 (talk) 22:26, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

Thank you. This helped

Thank you for providing this information. I am doing a school essay on Piranhas and I think this article is very informative. The comments are not the best, but I hope this is your best one yet. Thanks again!

Myths

I added two paragraphs to the Myths section, both with references. The paragraph beginning with "Still, shoals of piranhas can be dangerous" and the paragraph beginning with "Piranhas are usually mild-mannered and skittish."

I feel it is important to avoid giving the impression that piranhas are never dangerous to humans. Eric Fleming, the actor who starred in the TV Western series Rawhide, was killed by piranhas when he was only 41 years old. During the filming of a movie in Peru, Fleming's dugout canoe overturned in the Huallaga River. Actor Nico Minardos managed to swim to safety, but Fleming was swept away by the current and devoured by piranhas.

Precautions should be taken around piranhas, as noted. Missyagogo (talk) 08:59, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

i think there has been another myth added here i quote the ariticle on Eric Fleming: - "Fleming was swept away by the current and drowned. (He was not devoured by piranhas as rumored, as they do not live in the rapids.)" - this being the case can someone review there information first, to avoid this from happening again. 10.12.09 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.39.128.217 (talk) 20:16, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

Theodore Roosevelt

I think the section about Theodore Roosevelt is a bit misleading. It starts with an introduction mentioning the Amazon river, then quotes Roosevelt writing about there being men in every Paraguayan river town having been mutilated by piranhas. While it is certainly true that there are rivers in Paraguay containing piranhas, the (ONLY) ONE river mentioned here, the Amazon, does NOT flow through Paraguay... 173.168.179.81 (talk) 02:04, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

References

Reference 13 does not link to Pirahna as Pets - Exotic Pets, but to a page about the African Gray Parrot 74.163.21.76 (talk) 16:39, 30 March 2010 (UTC)

Page protection

Why on earth is this page, of all things, locked to IP editing?24.19.234.62 (talk) 05:56, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

So admins protect the page, then disappear. Great.24.19.234.62 (talk) 22:58, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

This page is locked to IP editing because anonymous vandals keep making vandalisms to the page.--Mr Fink (talk) 23:12, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Has this occured within the past three months?[2] Obviously, I'm asking because I want to vandalize this page.24.19.234.62 (talk) 07:26, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

The anonymous vandalisms stopped because the page has been locked to IP editors. That, and your inane request to unlock the page so you can vandalize the page, whether or not you're sarcastic, strongly suggests that this thread was never intended to help discuss improvements to the page at all, which is why I keep removing it.--Mr Fink (talk) 00:24, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

""Obviously, I'm asking because I want to vandalize this page"…" whether or not you're sarcastic" – really??? I can't believe you started a massive multipage blankfest based upon your misinterpretation. It doesn't really matter to me, it's not my article so you can keep your grammatical errors or whatever else I was going to fix. But when you start blanking my posts and calling me a troll, having never met me before and having no idea who I am, well that ticks me off. So I'm glad that's over. I don't really care at this point if the page is protected, as I was only trying to help. For free, no less. Good luck copy-editing Wikipedia by yourself, I guess.24.19.234.62 (talk) 00:34, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Sure, it's all Mr Fink's fault that 24.19.234.62 was too busy being needlessly sarcastic and insufferably holier than thou to out and out say "I'd like to make XXXX edit, please." But, hey, it's all Mr Fink's fault, too, that he can't use telepathy to magically distinguish 24.19.234.62 from all the other anonymous sarcastic trolls shitting on talkpages. But, it's for the best, I suppose, now that Wikipedia will wither up and die, as it should, without 24.19.234.62's incessant, yet beneficent and nourisihing concern trolling about how editing at Wikipedia should be restricted solely to scholars and professional artists. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.0.151.32 (talk) 15:15, 31 July 2013 (UTC)

Well, I have unprotected the article (that was about to expire today anyway). Please edit constructively. If you do frequent editing consider registering and soon semiprotection would not bother you as much Alex Bakharev (talk) 00:38, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Piranhas being legal in the US

Piranhas are not legal in the United States unless you have one type of specie and that is the Red Belly Piranha and it has to be male to avoid bringing a new predator into the US water ways. somewhat of what happened in the Illinois river as a result of Asian Carp. The ability to own one is limited to these states; Michigan, New Hampshire, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North and South Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming and Wisconsin. But Their sale and possession is banned or regulated in Alabama, Alaska, California, New York, Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Florida, Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Mississippi, Utah, Texas, Washington, North and South Carolina, Oklahoma, Virginia, Idaho, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

my citation is here: http://www.ask.com/government-politics/states-legal-own-piranhas-pets-418af79ebe506e9a — Preceding unsigned comment added by Froggy95 (talk • contribs) 14:48, 9 February 2015 (UTC)

Froggy95: User-generated websites are generally not reliable. If you wish to add this information you'll need reliable, published sources. Fortunately, much like Wikipedia, your source uses citations of which one seems reliable. The CNN link tells us "New York City [prohibits] the possession of piranhas", and that 25 states have banned or regulated them. Bataaf van Oranje (Prinsgezinde) (talk) 08:52, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 23 September 2019

Change the statement "member of family Characidae" to "member of the family Serrasalmidae" in the opening line RagingCleric (talk) 15:13, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

I've adjusted the lede to reflect both this, and that Serrasalmidae has been recently, but contentiously demoted back to subfamily level within Characidae.--Mr Fink (talk) 15:50, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

@Apokryltaros: Hi! When you answer an edit request, please close it by changing "|answered=no" to "|answered=yes". This will remove it from Category:Wikipedia semi-protected edit requests. Thanks, NiciVampireHeart 15:59, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

"Piranhas"

The use of "Piranhas" (which is currently about a place in Alagoas, Brazil) is under discussion, see Talk:Piranhas#Requested move 29 August 2020. Crouch, Swale (talk) 21:44, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Piranha etymology

"Piranha" is a word that comes from Guaraní, where pira means "fish" and aña means "devil", that is, "devil fish". Guarani and Tupi they were neighbors Southamerican indigenous natives. Gioser7 (talk) 05:11, 6 January 2022 (UTC)

Can you provide a WP:SOURCE?--Mr Fink (talk) 05:57, 6 January 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 26 February 2023

Change: "In February 2015, a six-year-old girl died after being attacked by piranhas when her grandmother's boat capsized during a vacation in Brazil."

To: In February 2015, a six-year-old girl most likely died after drowning, and very shortly after was attacked by piranhas when her grandmother's boat capsized during a vacation in Brazil. Guardian1403 (talk) 10:30, 26 February 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Not what cited source says. Cannolis (talk) 13:35, 26 February 2023 (UTC)

The cited source article takes its information from 3 different original sources: Globo, Ariquemes Agora, and Newsrondonia, the second one being an exact copy-paste of the third.

On a rough translation, you can see the cited source information was misinterpreted. First of all, the events ocurred on January 27th, but reported on February.

Globo states that the grandmother saved the children but couldn't save the girl. A search by locals initiated afterwards but she was dead by the time she was found, and part of her body had signs of a piranha attack. Her family stated she probably drowned and was later bitten by the piranha before being found.

The other source claims her grandfather was the one that saved the other children, but the girl lost her hold and was later found dead on a pool of blood surrounded by frenzy piranhas before being pulled to a canoe.

The information presented in this article and the cited source assumes the girl was killed by the piranha and the cause of death was the attack, however, given the original sources, no such a claim could be made as the cause of death was unclear and the piranha attack possibly ocurred post-mortem. It should be changed to a more neutral claim so it doesn't add up to the list of fatalities caused by piranha attacks, but rather a possible case of piranha consuming the remains of a drowning victim.

I would change the statement like this:

"In January 2015, a six-year-old girl was found dead with signs of piranha bites on part of her body after her family canoe capsized during a vacation in Monte Alegre, Brazil" Zolrak666 (talk) 17:12, 12 November 2023 (UTC)

 Done  Spintendo  22:58, 27 December 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 23 June 2023

The relationships with human section lists very few of the recent human deaths from piranha attacks and appears to be rather updated. For instance, in 2022, there were piranha attacks that killed four individuals (where the piranhas actively dragged at least one, if not all four, of the victims underwater and drowned them) and injured 20 in Paraguay alone. https://nypost.com/2022/01/06/piranha-attacks-in-paraguay-leave-4-dead-more-than-20-injured-this-year; https://www.foxnews.com/world/four-dead-20-injured-piranha-attacks-paraguay. Sourcechecker13 (talk) 02:33, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Actualcpscm (talk) 09:13, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

Introduction

The intro starts with A piranha or piraña … is one of a number of freshwater fish in the family …. The word "one" suggests that it's a single species. I think we should change it to A piranha or piraña … is any of a number of … MiguelMunoz (talk) 04:58, 19 November 2023 (UTC)

That is an improvement. I've implemented it. Plantdrew (talk) 16:42, 19 November 2023 (UTC)