Skip to main content

Black Pacu

The Black Pacu or Tambaqui is a very large, slow moving, mostly herbivorous fish that is actually a relative to the Piranhas. They are one of the largest members of their order swimming around in South America, and can weigh as much as 65lbs!

Black Pacu or Tambaqui
Unlike their Piranha relatives, the Black Pacus are not especially carnivorous. Most of their diet is made up of plants, fruits, and nuts that fall into the rivers, especially during flooding time. They also differ from their cousins in that way that their jaws are aligned. Piranhas have a notorious under-bite, while the Pacu's teeth is more even, or even aligned in an overbite.

The Black Pacu tends to be quite solitary, but they can move great distances. In fact, the Black Pacu is one of the best seed carriers in the Amazon! They consume so much vegetation that many of the seeds are still intact. Once the seeds pass out of their digestive systems they end up in areas that are very fertile once the floodwaters recede.

Black Pacus are not on any protection lists are far as I can tell, but the species is potentially threatened by overfishing. They make up one of the single largest "crops" in the country of Brazil.
IUCN Status :  Not listed
Location : Amazon and Orinoco Basins
Size : Length up to 3.2ft (1m), Weight up to 66lbs (30kg)
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii -- Order : Characiformes
Family : Characidae -- Subfamily : Serrasalminae -- Genus : Colossoma -- Species : C. macropomum
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 22, 2012 at 12:10 PM

    not only that, these have also been found around in parts across the atlantic and is a constant threat to their ecosystem, they go as far as to eat crocidile hatclings , and also have been crushing the wrong types of `nuts' if one knows what i mean, (in a more blunt way, attacking me, in the `family jewel' area).

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 22, 2012 at 12:19 PM

    typo, men

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a
59 comments
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more

Halloween Crab

Gecarcinus quadratus The Halloween Crab goes by many names, including the Red Land Crab, Whitespot Crab, and Moon Crab. I personally like Halloween Crab though, since it really reflects the interesting colors. They have black carapaces, orange-red legs, and purple claws! Halloween Crabs live in the Pacific coast mangroves and forests of Central and South America. They actually live in the forests as adults, and return to the ocean in order to reproduce. Did you know that they live as far away as 18 miles (30km)  from water? Not where you normally think Crabs to be! While living in the forest, the Crabs forage nocturnally for different plant matter, including leaves and sapling. They also dig long burrows into the ground for protection. These burrows can measure nearly 5 ft long! Halloween Crabs are sometimes kept in captivity, and can be very tricky pets due to their excellent climbing skills. IUCN Status :  Not Listed Location :   Cent
Post a Comment
Read more