Statistics
Length: 8-24cm

Physical description
Piranhas' physical characteristics, including colour, vary with location, population, and age. Generally piranhas are reddish-orange ventrally and silver-grey-green dorsally with a black dorsal fin, black anal fin, and reddish-orange pectoral fins. The Piranhas deep head has short, powerful jaws with triangular, interlocking, razor sharp teeth.

Distribution
Piranhas are found in the rivers of South America.

Habitat
Piranhas are typically found in white-water streams.

Diet
Foraging methods vary in the different life stages of Piranhas. During the day, smaller fish typically search for food whilst at dawn, late afternoon, and early evening the larger fish search for food. Piranhas have a wide variety of food in their diet, including fins, scales, fish, insects, snails, and plants.

Behaviour
Piranha groups feed communally. Feeding frenzies will be triggered when there is a shortage of food or blood in the water.

Reproduction
The breeding environments of piranhas tend to be main bodies of water such as lagoons. Piranhas will change colour during spawning with the red belly getting more intense and the whole piranha becoming slightly lighter. The pair will defend their spawning territory and prepare a nest not unlike the breeding behaviour of birds. The female lays clusters of eggs into a bowl shaped nest created in the sediment. These are around 4 or 5cm in depth and 15cm in diameter. The eggs will then be fertilised by the male. The eggs hatch after two to three days, depending on the temperature of the water. The breeders protect both the eggs and their brood. Females are most fertile during the rainy season in April and May.

Conservation status
Piranhas have no special status on the IUCN Endangered Species Red list.