Bony fish · Characiformes · Serrasalmidae

Red-bellied Pacu

Piaractus brachypomus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The red-bellied pacu — known in Spanish as cachama roja, morocó, pacú panza roja, pacú blanco, mbiraí, pirapitinga, tambaquí or pez chato — is a fish of the family Serrasalmidae native to the Amazon. It is silver in colour with reddish fins. It reaches 88 cm in length and 20 kg in weight. It thrives in waters at temperatures between 23 and 27 °C.

Weight

13.8 kg on average

Size

up to 88 cm

Lifespan

28 years

Diet

Frugivore

Feeds mainly on fruit.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

FreshwaterFrugivore Diurnal Fish Freshwater

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Fun facts

It feeds mainly on fruit and seeds falling from the trees of the flooded forest, and is one of Amazonia's great seed dispersers: up to 89 % of the seeds that pass through its gut still germinate.
It disperses better than the tambaqui because more seeds pass through it intact.
The juveniles mimic the red-bellied piranha, with a red chest and belly; they are told apart by the teeth, which in the pacu are molar-like.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bony fish)
Habitat & environment: Rivers, floodplain lagoons and flooded forest of the Amazon and Orinoco basins; it runs up to the headwaters to spawn as the flood begins
Sexual maturity: From about 52 cm

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaractus_brachypomus