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Morphological Characteristics of Piranha

50K views 131 replies 57 participants last post by  PiranhaMan777 
#1 ·
I'm going to use this thread to post some interesting morphological, or body, characteristics of the Red Bellied Piranha I have observed over the past 20 or so years of keeping these unique fish. Don't hesitate to add your own observations to this thread too.


Buccal Valve:

One of the easier things to see different about these fish and most others, besides the teeth
, is the presence of a buccal valve. As piranha spend most of their time with their mouths open, only rarely closing them, breathing could pose a problem as oxygenated water, obviously, has to pass through the mouth over the gills. An open mouth will prevent this but these cleverly designed little fishes have this buccal valve that can easily be seen just by looking into their mouths.... careful of your nose!


This is a survival adaptation which becomes very apparent when the fish has a large morsel of food which it is carrying about before eating. I have seen my fish swim about with food for a little while before actually consuming it. Only then do the advantage of this valve become apparent. With a widely open mouth piranha can still breath as this valve allows water to enter the mouth and then closes behind it to force it through the gills. Clever fish.
 
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#127 ·
Hey bjmarche,

Nice to know a neighbor. To answer your question, I am just a collector. I haven't bred piranha but have raised them in various habitats and groupings over the years and recorded my observations. I am a biologist by trade.

How about yourself? You have any piranha?
 
#129 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thanks for all the great and detailed info!!!!

I have a few questions.

Each day when i return home from work at night, when I turn on the lights, the RB do not have the orange color at the belly. But after about 30 minutes, the orange color eventually show up. Why is this?

Also, I was wondering if it is bad for their eyes if I turn on the room light so suddenly after they have been accustomed to the dark environment for the whole day. You know with us human, when someone turns on the room light while we are sleeping, we get that blindness feeling. Do the fishes get that too?

By the way I am also from Canada too, but on the other side! Vancouver to be exact.
 
#131 ·
It's been a while... good ol' Piranha Fury. ..

I'm doing a little write-up on how to set up a naturalized aquarium or "Pond in a Box" as I promised. I'm trying to fit it in between a heavy workload at the moment. I'll post it soon as it's done and I thank those who messaged me requesting it for their patience.
 
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