Teleostei (teleosts) >
Characiformes (Characins) >
Serrasalmidae (Piranhas and pacus) > Colossomatinae
Etymology: Piaractus: Greek, piar = fat, the side with grease of a body + Greek, aktos , ago = to carry.
Issue
See Géry (1986: 102) for more detail.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Subtropical; 15°S - 38°S, 66°W - 42°W
South America: Paraguay-Paraná River basin.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 40.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 39031); max. published weight: 20.0 kg (Ref. 32894)
Dark grey to silver dorsally and laterally and white ventrally with a yellow breast.
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep.
Invades the flooded forests to feed on nuts and seeds which fall from trees (Ref. 32894). Reaches around 50.0 cm SL (Ref. 81048).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Assuming standard characid reproduction. Replace ASAP.
Lovshin, L.L., 1995. The colossomids. p. 153-159. In C.E. Nash and A.J. Novotny (eds.) World animal science: production of aquatic animals: fishes. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Ref. 32894)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes
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