Red belly piranha or red belly pacu?

[arapaimag]

How many people need to tell you that it is a pacu?

The red belly disappears as it grows and the fish will turn grey to dark grey when it reaches 24"

When it reaches 36" it will weigh between 50 and 60 lbs and look like this.

Picture of one of my 35" to 36" pacu taken in 2011.

 

[davdev]

ok guys thanx for the info if anyone else has an opinion please post it

It's a piranha



Ok, no it isn't but you really want someone to tell you something it isn't so I though I would help out. Hope you got a very big tank

 

[Morganj2]

100% pacu

 

[fisher12889]

Gotta love it when people ask for help and then they argue with you when they don't hear what they want to.

 

[Dylz]

all you have to do is look at the teeth, open er mouth.

 

[HungDang]

Looks like a pacu to me. The corner of a pacu mouth is rectangular shaped, while a piranha corner of the mouth is an acute angle. Piranhas have a prognathic mandible--their jaws jut out. Pacus do not have a prominent lower jaw.

it's the other way! piranha have square lower jaw!
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?61138-Identify-Red-Bellied-Pacu-from-a-Red-Bellied-Piranha-(1-Viewing)
try feed it some nuts, I don't think a piranha will eat it when it find out that thing is not meat unless it's too young to know!

 

[ecoli73]

Stick your finger in, have the fish bite you and then examine the teeth mark...

 

[MN_Rebel]

it's the other way! piranha have square lower jaw!
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...d-Pacu-from-a-Red-Bellied-Piranha-(1-Viewing)
try feed it some nuts, I don't think a piranha will eat it when it find out that thing is not meat unless it's too young to know!

Piranhas are omnivorious. But it is 100% pacu.

 

[Paulbearer]

give it 2 weeks and it's double in size and that will give you the answer you need it's a pacu though

 

[pacu mom]

it's the other way! piranha have square lower jaw!http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...d-Pacu-from-a-Red-Bellied-Piranha-(1-Viewing)try feed it some nuts, I don't think a piranha will eat it when it find out that thing is not meat unless it's too young to know!

You apparently misread what I wrote. I commented on the corner of the mouth--the angle where the upper and lower jaw meet.

Piranha - corner of the mouth--acute angle, with protruding lower jaw


Pacu has a more rectangular corner of the mouth--almost square, with two 90 degree angles and definitely not just one acute angle like the piranha


pictures were taken from this article on how to identify piranha from pacu

http://opefe.com/idpira_and_pacu.html


Here's my Leonardo. The corner of his mouth is definitely not an acute angle.