There seems to be alot of confusion between Piranhas and Pacus. Some fishermen claim they have caught piranha in North American waters. Such stories easily become headline news, even though all of the "piranhas" I have seen (news, the papers, wildlife magazines) from these reports have clearly been pacus. I have never once seen a real piranha from any of these reports. Some of the stories even claim the fish have been examined by experts and determined to be a real piranha. What expert? The old man from the bait shop? Even Fish and Game Officials can't tell the differance between them, or maybe they just don't care to reveal the truth. Piranhas loose in North America sounds alot more spectacular than Pacus, doesn't it? Are you sure you want these people in charge of our wildlife? Well, this page should help reveal the BIG difference between Piranhas and Pacus. Maybe the next person to catch a "piranha" in North American waters will notice that it is probably just a pacu.

PIRANHA:
This is one species of Piranha from the Pygocentrus genus, which is most often confused with Pacus, as you can see it has a blunt head and a "bulldog-like" face.

DISTINGUISING FEATURE:
The biggest noticeable differance between a Piranha and a Pacu is their mouthparts. You can see here that the Piranha has a much larger lower jaw and the appearence of an underbite.

PACU:
The harmless mimic of the Piranha.

DISTINGUISING FEATURE:
Pacus do not have the underbite look, or a large lower jaw, their mouth is even. They do have small teeth (not shown) though, which is also why they have been mistaken for Piranhas. People who have caught Pacus before have been quoted saying: "I knew it was a Piranha the moment I saw all those teeth!"