Piranha

"Pirana" redirects here. For other uses, see Piranha (disambiguation).

Piranha
Temporal range: Miocene–Recent
A red-bellied piranha at the Karlsruhe Zoo
A red-bellied piranha at the Karlsruhe Zoo
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Family: Serrasalmidae
Included genera

Catoprion
Pristobrycon
Pygocentrus
Pygopristis
Serrasalmus
†Megapiranha

A piranha or piraña (/pɪˈrɑːnjəˌ -ræn/, or /pɪˈrɑːnə/; Portuguese: [piˈɾɐ̃ɲɐ], Spanish: [piˈɾaɲa]) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the family Serrasalmidae,[1] or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae[2] in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although often described as extremely predatory and mainly feeding on fish, their dietary habits vary extensively, and they will also take plant material,[3] leading to their classification as omnivorous.[4]

  1. ^ Freeman, Barbie; Nico, Leo G.; Osentoski, Matthew; Jelks, Howard L.; Collins, Timothy M. (2007). "Molecular systematics of Serrasalmidae: Deciphering the identities of piranha species and unraveling their evolutionary histories" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1484: 2. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1484.1.1. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  2. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Characidae". FishBase.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Goulding1980 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ BBC News Online (2 July 2007). "Piranha 'less deadly than feared'". Retrieved 2 July 2007.