PIRAHNAS

  • Piranhas travel in groups and usually prey on other fishes. They are attracted to the scent of blood and can reduce even a large animal to a skeleton in a short time.
  • The razor-toothed pirahnas of South America are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world.
  • Pirahnas feed in shoals, sometimes numbering thousands.
  • Potentially one of the most dangerous species, S. nattereri attains a maximum length of about 60 cm (2 feet), but most species are smaller.
  • Piranhas are abundant in the rivers of eastern and central South America.
  • Piranhas also called caribe, or piraya, any of several species of carnivorous fishes of the genus Serrasalmus, in the characin family, Characidae.

  • On 19 September, 1981 more than 300 people were eaten by them when a boat capsized in Obidos, Brazil.

Go to contents

1