Red Piranhas

Don't ask me why but I have always been curious about piranhas. There was a pet store near me in the Bronx that had a few piranhas in a tank. Not only were they not sharing the tank with another variety of fish but they weren't for sale either! I would go in this shop and watch them maneuver around the tank. It was very mesmerizing.

I eventually found some piranhas on a visit to an aquarium, which was equally as mesmerizing. This variety of piranha was the Pygocentrus nattereri or the Red Piranha. Also known as the Red-bellied Piranha, it is rumored that some native people who live where they swim have been known to use them as weapons. After all, they possess a vicious bite! They don't live up to the man-eater reputation but they do bite while taking them out of a net or off a fish hook.

Their diet usually consists of worms, other fish and insects. It would have been a great conversation starter if I would have been able to purchase one. Well, at least my Betta Fish were beautiful!