New World Record

[Greg_Cornish]

Piranha? Looks like a different kind to me.

[Obi-Hub]

Day Um

I bet that chomper could have taken a serious chunk out of ya!

Obi

[Greg_Cornish]

After a little research I found its an African Giant Tigerfish. They just prey on smaller fish.

[Obi-Hub]

I still wouldn't want it to confuse me with a "smaller fish"

Obi

[g-man]

I'd lip it!

[Robert F]

After a little research I found its an African Giant Tigerfish. They just prey on smaller fish.

...and that is why it has huge teeth. I am sure "small" is relative.

[Obi-Hub]

I'd lip it!

G-Man...the ThumbLLess ...Har!

[TTCal]

here's a somewhat similar fish called a Payara out of South America... some crazy species out there for sure!

[ash]

This is what happens when guys are noodling for these fish....




HARDCORE!

[Cooch]

Hmmm, wonder what species of Pirahna that might be? I was always under the impression they had skin like a catfish, not scales and looked like this one I caught in Brazil! Our guides told us this was a rare giant from the Amazon region.

[Tobe]

We should introduce this fish to the Delta, I’d like to watch a sea lion take a bite out of one of these guys!

I'll bet the wake boarders would think twice.

[Cooch]

Actually Tobe, Piranha's are very docile, they are not the exotic crazy man eater's Hollywood has made them out to be.

A Piranha or piraña (pronounced / (pi rahn ya) is a member of a family of omnivorous freshwater fish which live in South American rivers. In Venezuelan rivers they are called caribes. They are known for their sharp teeth and an aggressive appetite for meat. However, despite the negative Hollywood publicity piranhas are not generally violent, and have been known to be domesticated in home and office fish tanks.

Etymology

The name piranha may come from a hybrid language composed of Tupi-Guarani languages; it may be a compound word made of the components pirá, meaning 'fish', and sanha or ranha, meaning 'tooth'. In Tupi, inalienably possessed nouns take the prefix t-, s-, or r- depending on the possessor, or zero in combination; thus pirá + anha. Alternatively, it may come from Tupi pirá (fish) and ánha (devil).

Taxonomy

Piranhas belong to the family of Serrasalmidae (though some scientists still classify them in the family Characidae which also includes closely related herbivorous fish including pacus).Traditionally, only the four genera Pristobrycon, Pygocentrus, Pygopristis, and Serrasalmus are considered to be true piranhas, due to their specialized teeth. However, a recent analysis showed that, if the piranha group is to be monophyletic, it should be restricted to Serrasalmus, Pygocentrus, and part of Pristobrycon, or expanded to include these taxa plus Pygopristis, Catoprion, and Pristobrycon striolatus. Pygopristis was found to be more closely related to Catoprion than the other three piranha genera.

The total number of piranha species is not known and new species continue to be described. In 1988, it was stated that fewer than a half of the approximately 60 nominal species of piranhas at the time were valid. More recently in 2003, one author recognized a total of 38 or 39 species, although the validity of some taxa remains questionable.

Distribution

Piranhas are found only in the Amazon basin, in the Orinoco, in rivers of the Guyanas, in the Paraguay-Paraná, and in the São Francisco River systems; some species of piranha have extremely broad geographic ranges, occurring in more than one of the major basins mentioned above, whereas others appear to have much more limited distributions. However, piranha (inevitably former aquarium-dwellers) have been introduced into parts of the United States, even being occasionally found in the Potomac River, but they typically do not survive the cold winters of that region. Recently a piranha was caught by a fisherman in the Catawba River in North Carolina. This is the first known case in North Carolina and possibly in the region. Piranha have also been discovered in the Kaptai Lake in South-East Bangladesh. Research is being carried out to establish how piranha have moved to such distant corners of the world from their original habitat. It is anticipated that rogue exotic fish traders have released them in the lake to avoid being caught by anti-poaching forces.

Description

Piranhas are normally about 15 to 25 cm long (6 to 10 inches), although reportedly individuals have been found up to 41 cm (24 inches) in length.

Serrasalmus, Pristobrycon, Pygocentrus, and Pygopristis are most easily recognized by their unique dentition. All piranhas have a single row of sharp teeth in both jaws; the teeth are tightly packed and interlocking (via small cusps) and used for rapid puncture and shearing. Individual teeth are typically broadly triangular, pointed, and blade-like (flat in profile). There is minor variation in the number of cusps; in most species the teeth are tricuspid with a larger middle cusp that makes the individual teeth appear markedly triangular. The exception is Pygopristis, which has pentacuspid teeth and a middle cusp that is usually only slightly larger than the other cusps. In the scale-eating Catoprion, the shape of their teeth is markedly different and the premaxillary teeth are in two rows, as in most other serrasalmines.

[Paul W]

Yep, thats a Tigerfish. They are MEAN...for those of you that watch Hunt for Big Fish w/ Larry Dahlberg, he has fished for them many times. That one is HUGE!


Paul W

[Leroy_B]

Hmmm, wonder what species of Pirahna that might be? I was always under the impression they had skin like a catfish, not scales and looked like this one I caught in Brazil! Our guides told us this was a rare giant from the Amazon region.

Leave it to cooch to go all the way to Brazil and catch the biggest pirahna's. Always gotta catch the biggest don't ya!!! LOL

[Riverdawg]

THATS WHAT HAPPEND WHEN THE LAST GUY LIPPED ONE OF THEM THAR TOOTHY MO-FO's


~Riverdawg

[BassManDan]

VERY GOOD COOCH!!!

A little fisheries biology goes a long way!!!

BassManDan