Piranha also known as Caribes are omnivorous freshwater fish that live and feed in the rivers and lakes of South America more notably around the Amazon and Venezuela This page explains some of the facts and dispels some of the myths about these curious fish They are very aggressive meat eaters and attack their prey in large shoals ripping and tearing them apart with their razor sharp pointed teeth Piranha s belong to the Characin Characidae family or the Serrasalmidae sub family of fish which also include the Pacus fish that is herbivorous by nature but still has a good set of gnashers Research has shown that the Piranha will also eat vegetation and does not just rely on meat for its staple diet Research has shown that in fact its only a small number of species like the Red Bellies that are actually meat eaters the majority of Piranha fish are vegetarians otherwise called herbivores The number of different Piranha species is not exactly known as new species are being discovered all the time but it has recently been estimated that maybe forty or so are actually in existence The fact that Piranha fish are only found in certain areas of the world helps to suggest that the number of species at forty is fairly accurate The places where they are most common are in the Amazonian regions the rivers around Paraguay and also Guyana Some species of Piranha have been discovered further out of their normal habitat in such places as waters around Bangladesh and even rivers in the USA such as the Potomac but it must be said that these warm water warmclimate tropical fish do not survive well in the colder waters of the USA and hence it is doubtful that they will ever thrive there It is thought that Piranha fish were deliberately let loose in these waters for whatever reason rather than by more natural means Piranha fish typically grow to about 25 cm in length although it has been recorded that some species have been discovered up to 1foot 7ins in length Apart from a flash of red scales on their underside the aptly named Red Belly variety the Piranha is quite a bland looking fish as most of the photos on this page will attest It is merely the fishes reputation that creates the fascination of them Every species of Piranha fish have a set of razor sharp teeth a row at the bottom and top of the jaw The business part of the Piranha are of course its teeth and these teeth grow very close together the top and bottom teeth actually interlock with each other with small cusps The teeth are designed to puncture via a stabbing effect and then to rip and shear off the flesh in one movement The cross section of a Piranhas tooth shows that it is triangular and pointed like a knife blade the profile of which is very flat ideally suited to the task of shearing off chunks of flesh from its prey Natives living in the same areas as Piranha like to catch them as a Piranha s teeth are used to make arrow heads tools and other articles that the natives use in their everyday life in the Jungle It must be said here that the Piranha when caught is also cooked up into a tasty meal by these natives and the fish forms a part of their daily sustenance intake The Piranha fish has an awesome reputation and is often portrayed in the movies as a ferocious under water monster hell bent on attacking Often portraying that Piranha s always attack in packs and will strip to the bone in seconds anything that is unfortunate enough to be in the water at the same time Well this is not strictly accurate in fact its a lot inaccurate as they will certainly attack stricken animals in the water but the local natives who often paddle far out into the same waters to catch fish do so without hindrance and impunity It is thought that Piranha s swim together and attack together to present a much mightier foe in the waters and also more instinctively there is always safety in numbers Piranha fish will not attack people who dare to venture into the same waters as is commonly thought To get Piranhas to attack you would have to thrash about with blood dripping from cuts in your flesh to attract them Piranha fish have the same sensory system as sharks that enable them to detect tiny amounts of blood in the water so it is believed that swimming with an opencut may enhance the chance of an attack otherwise they tend to ignore people In fact as stated the local natives stand in the same waters as the Piranhas to cast their nets to catch fish and injuries from Piranha bites are rare Rare but not uncommon as Piranhas do occasionally nip at bathers and fishermen but fatalities or gross traumatic injury caused by them is more often than not only in a storytellers imagination told for effect and sensationalism and t