Teleostei (teleosts) >
Characiformes (Characins) >
Serrasalmidae (Piranhas and pacus) > Colossomatinae
Etymology: Colossoma: Greek, kolos = short, truncated + Greek, soma = body (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Cuvier.
Issue
See Machado-Allison 1982: 42, Géry 1986: 97 and Machado-Allison 1986: 2 for detailed description. See Goulding & Carvalho 1982 and Araujo Lima & Goulding 1997 for general biology and management. See Loubens & Panfili 1997 for growth biology.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 5.0 - 7.8; dH range: ? - 20; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 5 - ? m. Tropical; 22°C - 28°C (Ref. 1672); 15°S - 35°S
South America: Amazon and Orinoco basins as wild form; pisciculture form largely distributed in South America.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?, range 24 - ? cm
Max length : 108 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 70.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9987); max. published weight: 40.0 kg (Ref. 72380)
This species is usually solitary. Adults stay in flooded forests during first 5 months of flooding and consume but fruits and grains. Young and juveniles live in black waters of flood plains until their sexual maturity. Feeds on zooplankton, insects, snails and decaying plants (Ref. 32894). Used in aquaculture because it can live in mineral poor waters and is very resistant to diseases. Marketed fresh and frozen (Ref. 9987).
Géry, J., 1977. Characoids of the world. Neptune City ; Reigate : T.F.H. [etc.]; 672 p. : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 23 cm. (Ref. 598)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Traumatogenic
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02239 (0.01185 - 0.04230), b=2.99 (2.82 - 3.16), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 2.0 ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.23; Fec=7,000-300,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Moderate to high vulnerability (47 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 43.6 [17.8, 103.8] mg/100g; Iron = 1.09 [0.51, 2.44] mg/100g; Protein = 17.6 [15.5, 19.7] %; Omega3 = 0.28 [0.10, 0.78] g/100g; Selenium = 125 [45, 312] μg/100g; VitaminA = 14 [4, 47] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.43 [0.94, 2.22] mg/100g (wet weight); based on
nutrient studies.