where did piranhas get the bad repution?

[bassman440]

Any one have any ideas comments? I personally think this affected there reputation badly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NmkXCSewdA&feature=related

[frontosablkrhom]

yes to me it seems as if thoe this movie is being talked about all over the united states and this is why piranhas are illegal

[jimmybling31]

piranhas are not mean. i hate how they have that rep. where did it start anyways?

[Will Hayward]

Are you kidding? It's from the ignorance of the people who make the laws.

[gourami]

The movie called "Piranaha" or something like that. People went in the water then were eaten. Never seen it though...
EDIT: LOL i didnt read the link

[razorback182]

yeah...ignorance doesn't always mean bliss..

[frontosablkrhom]

i was just kidding before ,this movie has nothing to do with why there illegal ive never seen this until now and it was kind of funny

[dmopar74]

whats really retarded is how their illegal in my state, and their is no chance in hell that they could ever survive through the winter in any body of water here. makes my life hard and expensive trying to acquire anything other than natts.

[HPIZZLE]

whats really retarded is how their illegal in my state, and their is no chance in hell that they could ever survive through the winter in any body of water here. makes my life hard and expensive trying to acquire anything other than natts.


that do sucks

[PEVINE11]

haha i rented that movie because i love piranhas, WORST MOVIE EVER!

[Fishermoe14]

lol i think im gonna have to find this movie somewhere... before actually keeping Ps i thought they were agro as hella and would eat anything that was put in the tank.. i was wrong and love them even more nao :D

[Jfitz]

BS movies like this and feeding videos videos with piranhas eating live mice with Death metal music in the background gives a totally bad first impression on people who don't actually know what piranhas are like. I was actually laughing out loud at the trailer when it mentioned schools of 100's of piranhas never stop looking for their next kill or something like that lmao. Also they are one of the few fresh water fish that have visible razor sharp teeth

[sean-820]

It started with theodore roosevelt and his journy and documentation of his journy. His book was "through the brazilian wilderness" or something like that. Holywood then percieved them as monsters from this and made movies without having actual knowlage.

He wrot piranhas were mean beacuse he saw them eat a dieing cow. Infact the locals isolated piranhas into a section of the river were they woudl stare untill they addes a cow. Obviously if theres food they will take it.

[bassman440]

I mean it is logical that this did afect the publics opionion on the piranah. Right after jaws came out no one went swimming at the beach, but before jaws people where paying for a report of a shark atack. people are so influenced by the media!

[kent hansen]

the media never tells the whole truth there just like a stupid movie its all about the ratings i realy some day would like tostart a news paper writing about the other side of the story

[catfishlover106]

Movies like these just sucks...ruining the fishes reputations =/ lol I mean people take the beliefs from the movie they see on their TV or on the Theatre too seriously and cause a comotion...I know in most states they won't even survive our cold waters...The movies of Jaws make Great White Sharks look bad and in reality their not that bad...have any of you guys ever touched one out at sea? I had with my parents when we went on a boat ride from a guy who brings peoples out for Shark Watches and he showed us how Great Whites acted and really aren't bad at all...they can be mean and hurt you but those Great White Shark attacks on us humans is just from their curiousity on those things floating at the surface (people swimming or surfing) and thy get attack by mistake since they look like seals in distress. But this is just my thought in it and everyone has their own thoughts on different subjects =]

[DiXoN]

It started with theodore roosevelt and his journy and documentation of his journy. His book was "through the brazilian wilderness" or something like that. Holywood then percieved them as monsters from this and made movies without having actual knowlage.

He wrot piranhas were mean beacuse he saw them eat a dieing cow. Infact the locals isolated piranhas into a section of the river were they woudl stare untill they addes a cow. Obviously if theres food they will take it.

and there you have the correct answer, this is where the fear of piranha and the reputation started.

[master.k.]

LLLLLLOOOOOOLLLLLLLL !!!!!!!!! THAT WAS GREAT . :popcorn::D:ROFL::ROFL:

[bassman440]

want to hear something really bad! they are remaking that horrible movie, i think it is going to make things worse.

[Cmb Mani]

Well i think they have a bad rep for many reasons, one that absurd movie "piranhas" , i saw the trailer and the remake a few yrs ago, nothing but Hollywood trying to make a hit movie.. remember "Jaws"?? that was the same thing and how many innocent sharks get killed just bcos people are scared of them?? damn shame

Another reason is ppl just assume the worst, they probably see some piranha feeding video on youtube and think if a piranha can strip a fish off to the bone so fast why wont they attack me??? answer go see Nigel's nature videos.. he jumps into a lake of frenzied piranhas and doesnt get a singel bite!! poor ignorant people

BUT i can agree with the ban of piranha in some regions bcos that ecosystem cannot sustain piranhas.. if they are turned loose in summer they have ample time to create havock before they die in the winter... its all abt the food chain and when a new predator disturbes it, so many things can go wrong!!

[dzb912]

thats egzactly where they got it from..
and another one
i was watching this program on animal planet and it was some kinda countdown to the most aggresive animal or somthing like that
and they told a story about piranha
it went something like a looonngg time ago explorers went to the amazon
and when they were fishing they caught fish with teeth and they threw in chicken and they devoured it or somthing like that
and they told theyre homies back at home and they were all terrified

[Nabbig2]

Yea......my fellow Monster Fish Keepers have pretty much summed it up. It's human ignorance. That's all it is. This has happened for other animals, like wolves and sharks too.

[chrisb]

Take a look at this, I think this is what started it all back in 1914.. enjoy

Uncovering the Myth of the Piranha
The river's devils seem to be rather fearful
There are much bigger fishes in the river than this rather small guy, that do not pass over 42 cm (1.2 ft) in
length and 3.85 kg (9 pounds) in weight, that trigger the dread in any traveler through South America. Their
image is horrific, with a mouth full of razor-sharp 4 mm long canine-like teeth, which are replaced constantly
during their lifespan just as in the case of the sharks and crocodiles. The shoal attack can clean off meat from
a smaller carcass in several minutes. But a new research shows that their fearsome reputation precedes the
reality. Piranhas seems to be rather fearful creatures, that gather in large shoals to protect themselves from
predators. "Rather than aggressive killers, research shows piranhas are omnivorous scavengers, eating
mainly fish, plants and insects," said Anne Magurran of Scotland’s University of St Andrews. Piranhas do
have a keen sense of smell and hearing and can pick up a drop of blood in 200 liters of water, but have poor
eyesight. The piranhas of the genus Catoprion do not kill at all. They "graze" on their prey, usually just taking
a bite out of another fish's fins or scales. The flesh grows back within weeks, giving them the chance to feast
on the same victim again. The meat-eating killers belong to the genera Serrasalmus, Pygopristis and
Pygocentrus. "Previously it was thought piranhas shoaled as it enabled them to form a cooperative hunting
group. However, we have found that it is primarily a defensive behavior. Their cautious behavior is crucial to
avoid being eaten," she said.In fact, many people ignore the fact that locals find piranha meat as one of the
best amongst Amazon's fish. The same idea is shared on many predators, from boto (the Amazon river
dolphin) to giant otters, caymans (a relative of the alligators), birds (like herons) to and bigger fish, like the
giant pirarucu (Arapaima gigas), considered the largest freshwater fish in the world (over 3 m (10 ft) long and
200 kg (440 pounds) heavy).Working at the Mamiraua Institute in Brazil, Magurran revealed how shoal sizes
increase in connection to predation risk, especially when water levels in the Amazon basin drop, leaving less
room for piranhas to escape attack. The piranha shoals have a typical pattern, with the larger adult
individuals in the middle, surrounded by smaller juveniles. "Previously it was thought piranhas shoaled as it
enabled them to form a co-operative hunting group. However we have found that it is primarily a defensive
behavior, and quite a complex one. The bigger, older fish tend to swim in the middle as they are
reproductively mature and need to keep safe, whereas the outer layer of the shoal is made up of smaller,
younger piranhas. Being at the edge of the group means they can get access to food sooner - essential if
they are to grow more quickly and mature." explained Magurran. The myth of the aggressive piranha seems
to have been brought into the western world, t least in part, by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, who in
1914 described witnessing a shoal stripping the flesh from a cow in minutes when he visited Brazil. But he
was unaware that the show had been set up to entertain tourists and that the captive fish had been kept
hungry for days so they would go into a feeding frenzy.

http://news.softpedia.com/newsPDF/Uncovering-the-Myth-of-the-Piranha-58952.pdf

[atizknock]

I dont feel like theyre any more aggressive than my discus, only difference is their big a$$ teeth. ITs kind of funny how engrained the stigma piranha carry is in western culture. LOL my friends were convinced my 8 quarter size red bellies would eat my cat if given the opportunity, then i showed them the black tetras in the tank with them and they got quiet real fast.

[razorback182]

I dont feel like theyre any more aggressive than my discus, only difference is their big a$$ teeth. ITs kind of funny how engrained the stigma piranha carry is in western culture. LOL my friends were convinced my 8 quarter size red bellies would eat my cat if given the opportunity, then i showed them the black tetras in the tank with them and they got quiet real fast.

yup, that works the best! my friends couldn't believe my convict was bossing them around......
for now.

[atizknock]

yeah im sure the tetras days are numbered but for now its real entertaining seeing them steal food out of the piranhas mouths and chasing them around the tank.

I dont know if its some sort of survival mechanism or what but the tetras in the red belly tank are a heck of alot more aggressive than the ones in my discus tank. They even attacked the rosy reds i tossed in there today. They kind of worked in tandem with the piranhas spooking the rosies out of where ever they were hiding than attacking them after they had been bit a few times by the red bellies. Im sure smaller fish like that hang around shoals of piranha in the wild to reap the benefits of their messy eating habits

[statler]

Piranhas goet thier bad rep. from theodore roosevelt. look it up!

[frontosablkrhom]

^ thats a weird first post lol

[yoitsfrankk]

sir they are eating all the guests!! lmao