Pacu

scientific name

Colossoma bidens

size

Length: 24-28 in

diet

Wild: herbivore • decaying plants, fruit that falls off trees

habitat/range

Habitat: slow waters in rain-forest
Range: middle-upper Amazon River in Brazil and Peru, Orinoco Basin

status

CITES App I • due to habitat destruction; • Asian pet trade = serious threat; also different parts are believed to be potent medicines, esp. gallbladders • SSP • studbook participant • TAG

other

important food fish • have powerful teeth that can cause serious bites • cousin of the piranha – juveniles often mistaken for piranhas