Piranhas are fast, fiece predators of the Amazon. They feature razor-sharp teeth and a bad reputation. Some people are afraid to go swimming in rivers because of this fresh-water fish. They are capable of striping a full-grown cow to a skeleton in just a few minutes. Even though they are aggresive, what's the piranha's side of the story?
Piranhas live together in shoals, a name for a group of fish. The shoal hunts, eats, and rests together. Piranhas in a shoal have an average of 4 feet, and some have been measured 6 feet.
When a piranha is ready to breed, it's grey scales turn a bright, silvery color. A female will lay 30 to 40 eggs, then leaves. The father is left to tend to the eggs. When piranha fry hatch, they are very vulnerable. They can easily be eaten by large aquatic insect larvae, small fish, and other threats.
The piranha fry eat mosquito larvae, which can be a big help to us. The piranha fry mature quickly. But even as a adult piranha is a food source to diffrent animals, such as caimans, giant river otters, and peole.
Piranhas are the complete underwater hunters. They can smell fresh blood over 1-2 miles away, and they can even see in full color! Even though these fish can and will attack large animals, there are no records of them ever killing people! A piranha will sometimes bite or nip at a person, then leave.
The bites are the piranha's way of investagating. Once the piranha has indentified the flesh, it will attack it or leave it alone, depending if it is regular prey or not.
Even though piranhas are not endangered or on the verge of becoming extint, these fish are being hunted for their meat and famous teeth. Even though the piranhas are not endangered yet, it would be a wonder of nature to see them in the great Amazon river.