40 facts about piranhas!

Piranhas are fish that are considered really dangerous.

Piranhas are one kind of fish that are really different from others. Let’s find out why!

1. Piranhas are also called by their Spanish name piraña.
2. Piranha means “toothfish” in the Brazilian dialect Tupi.
3. Piranhas are members of the family of Serrasalmidae.
4. Piranhas belong to the subfamily Serrasalminae.
5. This subfamily includes closely related omnivorous fish such as pacus.
6. Only the four genera are considered to be true piranhas.
7. These are the Pristobrycon, Pygocentrus, Pygopristis, and Serrasalmus.
8. They considered being true piranhas because of their sharp teeth.
9. Piranhas are indigenous to the Amazon, in the Orinoco, in rivers of the Guianas, in the Paraguay–Paraná, and the São Francisco River.
10. Piranhas have a really bad reputation due to Theodore Roosevelt.
11. When Theodore Roosevelt traveled in South America he saw different species of piranha and he actually didn’t exactly say the best about them.
12. He mentioned that piranhas are “the most ferocious fish in the world”.
13. What Roosevelt saw was a piranha eating a dead cow in a carcass.
14. What Theodore Roosevelt probably didn’t know is that they attack to larger animals only when they are injured or in some form of distress.
15. Piranhas were known to the scientists since the 16th century, but they gained popularity when Roosevelt talked about them.
16. Even though piranhas are known from the 16th century, they live in South America for millions of years!
17. Due to fossils’ proof piranha ancestors lived in South America’s rivers 25 million years ago.
18. Modern piranha are younger: they have only been around for 1.8 million years.
19. Nowadays, around 30 species live in the lakes and rivers in South America.
20. Some people like having piranhas as a pet.
21. But when piranhas get too large to keep them in an aquarium, they set them free in a local lake.
22. This is why some piranhas were found in China and Britain.
23. In general, it’s legal owning a piranha-pet, but it’s illegal setting it… free!
24. Their teeth are very sharp and their bite hurts!
25. True piranhas have tricuspid teeth.
26. It is said that piranhas can rip apart a human being.
27. Actually it takes 300-500 piranhas to do that.
28. Normally piranhas eat insects, worms, carrion, seeds, and other plants.
29. Sometimes when they can’t find food, there are some cases where a piranha ate another dead or alive piranha.
30. The word that describes these piranhas is cannibalism and some of them can be cannibals.
31. Some others though are vegetarians.
32. When they are hunting, they go the tail and eyes.
33. Piranhas use as a mean of communication… barking!
34. More specifically they make 3 distinctive sounds.
35. Each sound is made for a different situation.
36. In order to be safe, they run in packs.
37. They, noise and splashing. will attack you, only if you attack them or their eggs first
38. They are really into blood, noise, and splashing.
39. They can smell a single drop of blood in 200 liters of water.
40. Piranhas can’t control their body temperature and they rely on their environment.