Pacu

FULL COLOUR X-RAY

Also known as:

Priapitinga

silver dollar

Common Group Name:

Characins Piranhas Tetras

Family Name:

Characiformes

Genus Name:

Piaractus

Species Name:

Piaractus brachypomus

Dispatch Method:

The eating qualities of these fish are greatly improved if they are killed humanely by iki jime or a firm knock to the head before placing them in an ice slurry after bleeding.

Fish Description:

Pacu are deep bodied species that resemble the closely related Piranhas in body shape. They grow to a much larger size, but lack the sharp triangular teeth of the piranhas.
The various species of pacu are omnivorous fish with sturdy molar-like teeth they use to feed on fruit, invertebrates or smaller fishes

Fish Distribution:

Various species of pacu are endemic to the Amazon River Basins as well as other river systems throughout South America.

Fish Size Common Length:

Common between 15-30 cm, maximum size of some species exceeds 80 cm and 20 kg.

For assistance with identifying fishes, see fishesofaustralia.net.au. For information on size and bag limits, check out the website of your State Fisheries Department.
We thank fishesofaustralia.net.au and Australia's various Fisheries Departments for some of the thumbnail images used to assist with fish identification on this website and its applications, as licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia. Thanks also to Michigan State University and Georgia Aquarium for generous donation of xrays of some US fish species.