Red Piranha

COMMON NAMES: Red or Natterer'sPiranha.

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Serrasalmus nattereri.

SYNONYM: Rooseveltiella nattereri.

DESIGNATION: Tropical

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Amazon andOrinoco basins.

SIZE: Up to 30 cm (12 in).

WATER PREFERENCES: Soft, slightly acid waterbetween 24-27°C (75-80°F).

DIET: Raw meat, fish and larger livefoods.Live fish are often recommended as an idealfood but I would question the ethics of this.

BREEDING: This species has bred only veryrarely in captivity. A mated pair may swimupwards into the roots of a floating plant.such as Water Hyacinth (Eichhorniacrassipes), and scatter the adhesive eggsamong the feathery rootlets. Hatching andrearing of fry is, basically, the same as inother Characins, but the diet must incorporate a carnivorous component from theoutset.

The Red Piranha is potentiallydangerous and should, therefore, be handledwith care at all times. In the wild, this speciesis an open-water shoaler but within theconfines of an aquarium this is not usuallypossible unless the tank is large and the fishare always kept well fed.

Despite their formidable reputation,Piranha can be quite timid in aquaria,particularly if these are brightly lit anddevoid of vegetation or other forms of shelter.The almost exclusively carnivorous diet caneasily lead to water pollution. A good,efficient filtration system (preferablyconsisting of a power filter) is, therefore,essential.