FROM FRANK MAGALLANES

Not seen in the aquarium hobby and if it is available, it is likely easily misidentified. They share some common characteristics like most Pristobrycon. Should the species become readily available, I would suggest keeping them solitary as they are fin biters. Food requirements would likely not differ much from S. eigenmanni. As more information becomes available I will update accordingly.

Found in the equatorial lakes and rivers of Brazil and Guyana. Also reported in Uruguay and Paraguay rivers.  No types known to science. There are problems with this species. It was made a synonym of S. eigenmanni by other authorities. What this means is, this may be a another species that falls into the Serrulatus-Humeralis description problem fishes. This is a common problem when reviewing this genus and how it was placed by previous(historical) and current systematizing. Is it a valid species? According to present literature it is, but I remain doubtful.

DESCRIPTION

Not much descriptive work available for this species. The only papers I have other than some comparison studies between related, similar species is from Eigenmann: The Serrasalminae and Mylinae, 1915. His work is as follows:

Head 3.66-3.75: depth to end of lateral line 1.55-1.6; D. 16-17; A. 33-35; serrae 34 or 35; snout 1.5 in the eye: eye 3 in the head; interorbital 2.16; margin of the second suborbital rounded, but leaving a naked area equal to one-fourth to one-third of the total width of the cheeks; space between  dorsal and caudal longer than head; head 1.3-1.4 in the length of the anal; spots sometimes arranged in transverse rows, merging into irregular cross-bands in the largest specimen.

COLOR OF LIFE

The piranha has a beautiful coloring of golden yellow on the flank with brilliant iridescent, small scales and with  large eyes. The upper body is silver- blue, darker in the back, with a dark humeral spot. The mouth is small with a projecting lower jaw.

HISTORICAL NAMES

Synonym:

• Salmo erythrophthalmus Kner, 1860 (ambiguous synonym)

• Serrasalmus aureus, Spix & Agassiz 1829 (synonym)

• Serrasalmus gymnogenys, Günther 1864 (synonym)

• Serrasalmus aureus Spix & Agassiz, 1829 (synonym)

MAXIMUM SIZE:

15 inches TL (?)

DISTRIBUTION

Lower portions of tributaries of lower Amazon River and Guyana rivers: Brazil and Guyana.

REFERENCES:

• Spix, J. B. von and L. Agassiz   1829-31 Selecta genera et species piscium quos in itinere per Brasiliam annos MDCCCXVII-MDCCCXX jussu et auspiciis Maximiliani Josephi I.... colleget et pingendso curavit Dr J. B. de Spix.... Monachii. Selecta Piscium Brasiliam: Part 1: i-xvi + i-ii + 1-82, Pls. 1-48;, Part 2: 83-138, Pls. 49-101. [Part 1 published June 1829, part 2 Jan. 1831; see Kottelat 1988, Whitehead & Myers 1971, Pethiygoda & Kottelat 1998.

• Géry, J.   1972 (19 Dec.) Poissons characoïdes des Guyanes. I. Généralités. II. Famille des Serrasalmidae. Zool. Verh. (Leiden) No. 122: 1-250, Pls. 1-16.

• Reis, R. E., S. O. Kullander and C. J. Ferraris, Jr.   2003 Check list of the freshwater fishes of South and Central America. Check list Freshw. Fishes South & Cent. Amer. 2003: i-xi + 1-729.

• Jégu, Michel., Dos Santos, Geraldo Mendes., Cybium 2001, 25(2): 119-143. Mise Au Point À Propos de Serrasalmus spilopleura Kner, 1858 et Réhabilitation de S. maculatus Kner, 1858 (Characidae: Serrasalminae). See page: 135.

• Machado-Allison, A. y Fink, W. L. 1996 Los Peces Caribes de Venezuela, Diagnosis, Claves, Aspectos, Ecologicos Y Evolutivos. UCV de Venezuela. pg. 83.

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UPDATED: 07/07/2009