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
More on author: Cuvier.

Freshwater; pelagic; pH range: 4.8 - 6.8; dH range: ? - 15; 23°C - 28°C (Ref. 2060) preferred ?; tropical; 23°N - 11°S -.

South America: Amazon and Orinoco River basins (Ref. 39031). Reported from Argentina (Ref. 9086).

Maturity: L_m ?, range 52 - ? cm
Max length: 88.0 cm TL male/unsexed (Ref. 40637); max. published weight: 25.0 kg (Ref. 2060); max. reported age: 28 years (Ref. 39139).

Juveniles mimic Serrasalmus nattereri. Feeds on insects and decaying plants (Ref. 32894). Possesses powerful dentition that can cause serious bites (Ref. 4537). An important foodfish (Ref. 12202).

Assuming standard charicid mode of reproduction. Replace ASAP.

Ortega, H. and R.P. Vari 1986 Annotated checklist of the freshwater fishes of Peru. Smithson. Contrib. Zool. (437):1-25. (Ref. 6329)

  Least Concern (LC); date assessed: December 21 2020

Not Evaluated

Not Evaluated

  Traumatogenic

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Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.75 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.03090 (0.02263 - 0.04219), b=3.00 (2.91 - 3.09), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 2.5 ±0.2 se; Based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=7; tmax=28).

Fishing vulnerability (Ref. 59153): High vulnerability (55 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

Nutrients (Ref. 124155): Calcium = 51 [19, 129] mg/100g; Iron = 1.42 [0.63, 3.27] mg/100g; Protein = 18.3 [16.2, 20.6] %; Omega3 = 0.314 [0.107, 0.926] g/100g; Selenium = 79 [26, 194] μg/100g; VitaminA = 17.7 [4.5, 71.6] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.59 [1.02, 2.56] mg/100g (wet weight);