Pacu or Piranha?

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crazyryceman

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jan 11, 2009
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Garden Grove/San Diego
I was at a LFS the other day and there was a tank with what looked like piranhas but the tank was labeled pacu. They were still pretty small, about 2-3" so it was hard to tell if they were real P's or what. Some of them had pretty sharp teeth and there was a lot of fin nipping and chasing going on in the tank. I know most places will sell pacus as piranhas but since this is in Cali, I had a feeling that it was the opposite way around. So basically my question is do pacus have sharp teeth and do they fin nip? I've had Ps before and they sure looked like real Ps to me but it was hard to tell at such a small size
 
It can be tough with a young fish to the inexperienced eye. The best way to judge is by the jaw. A Piranha has a more muscular jaw and a more pronounced underbite, while the pacu's bite is straighter.

piranha2_Joshu.jpg


http://www.****************/images_01/allens_pacu_w360.jpg


Hope this helps.
 
Can you post a pic? Pacu and piranha both have sharp teeth and fin-nip when they're young. The most obvious difference (as Jaycee said) is the shape of the jaw. Piranhas have an under bite, pacus don't. Also, the mouth of a pacu is much more pointed than that of a piranha.
 
I made a mistake before identifying the difference between the two. The store owner told me it was a piranha, "the gentle one" and I totally believe him, when I google the images of what a piranha look like, it was way to different. I was really pissed at the store owner and told him it wasn't a piranha but a juvenile pacu. Cant blame the store owner because the guys that he got the fish from told him the same thing.

Well just sharing my experience.
 
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