Black pacu (lat. Colossoma macropomum), which is also called the herbivorous piranha pacu or tambakui, is a fish of the genus haracin, that is, its counterparts are neon and tetra. But the coincidence ends with the name of the genus.

The black pacu is the largest characin living in South America and does not resemble its small counterparts in any way.

Pacu fish reach up to 108 cm in length and weigh about 27 kg, which is impressive. However, still more often they are about 70 cm, but this is prohibitive for an amateur aquarium. No wonder it is also called a giant pacu.

Habitat in nature

Black pacu (also called brown pacu), also known locally as tambakui, was first described by Cuvier in 1816. We live throughout the Amazon and Orinoco basins in South America.

Also called pacu, giant pacu, tambakui, gamitana and kachama.

Video about a natural reservoir in Brazil, at the end of the video underwater footage, including a flock of pacu

In 1994 they were brought to Guinea as commercial fish, in the Sepik and Rama rivers. Also widely distributed throughout South America, including Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras. And North - USA.

Loners, they feed on insects, snails, decaying plants and small fish.

Adult fish swim in the flooded forests during the rainy season and eat fruits and cereals.

The commentator says that they eat fruits that have fallen into the water, which are in abundance there.

Description


The black pacu can grow up to 106 cm and weigh up to 30 kg and live up to 25 years. The body is laterally compressed, the color of the body is from gray to black, sometimes with spots on the body. Fins are black.

Very often, black pacu are confused with piranhas while they are small. Juveniles are very similar, but black pacu are rounder and broader than piranhas.

The easiest way to determine by the lower jaw, in piranhas, it protrudes forward.

Difficulty in content

They are very large fish and are best kept in commercial aquariums as not many can afford them at home. Although she is very unpretentious and simple.

Not too demanding on water parameters, as long as they are not extreme, as well as in feeding.

Black pacu is an interesting, very unpretentious fish in keeping and feeding, which even has its own personality. Sounds like the perfect aquarium fish, right?

But the biggest problem in keeping is that the black pacu grows quickly and huge, even very large aquariums it quickly outgrows.

The problem is that often negligent sellers endure them very small under the guise of piranhas. Although these fish are very similar, the pacu is less aggressive and less predatory.

However, it does not negate the fact that a black pacu will swallow any small fish in an aquarium without hesitation.

Black pacu is definitely not a fish for everyone. To keep one, you need 1000 liters for juveniles, and for adult fish about 2000. For such an aquarium, very thick glass is needed, since in a fright a black pacu can break it.

In warm climates, black pacu is sometimes kept in ponds, but because of the dark color, it does not look very good there.

If you are not afraid of the volumes required for this fish, then otherwise it is not difficult to keep it.

Feeding

What to feed pacu? Black pacu are omnivores, and in nature they eat fruits, cereals, insects, snails, invertebrates, and carrion. The aquarium will eat both artificial and live food.

Everything will suit him - snails, worms, bloodworms, fruits, vegetables. And small fish, so keeping with those that the pacu can swallow is definitely not worth it.

The main requirement is a very large aquarium, for adults from 2 tons. If you can afford one, then the difficulties end there.

They are completely undemanding, resistant to disease, eat everything. The only thing is that you need very powerful filtration, since there is a lot of dirt from them.

They live in the middle layers of water and they need free place for swimming.

The best decorations are driftwood and large stones, plants can not be planted at all, for black pacu they are food.

A little shy, a sharp movement and they have a panic, throwing around the aquarium and hitting objects and glass ...

Compatibility

Adults are solitary but non-aggressive. Juveniles are more cocky. Adults will eat any small fish that they can swallow, nothing threatens large fish.

It is best to keep alone or with the same large fish.

Sex differences

The male's dorsal fin is sharper, the anal fin has spikes, and is brighter colored than the female.

Breeding

The black pacu is not bred in an aquarium because of its size.

All specimens for sale are bred in ponds and on farms.

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Freshwater fish with pacu teeth - can beat the "drums". Don't believe? Read on!

The body of this fish is compressed laterally and has an oval shape. The coating is silvery scales of small size. The edge of the caudal fin is decorated with a black stripe, and the fins themselves and the underbelly of the pack are of a beautiful red color. The fins located on the chest of this fish are relatively small, but there are many of them. Of the total body weight, 10% is fat.

The body color of the pacu changes with age almost to black, the characteristic pattern becomes more pronounced and saturated. But looking into the mouth of the pack, you can be very surprised, because its teeth in appearance are practically no different from human teeth. Why nature awarded this fish, similar to many of its fellows, with such impressive teeth, is still a mystery.

IN wild nature the weight of males is slightly inferior to the weight of females. Representatives of this species of fish can reach 25 kg, and they grow up to 90 cm in length. The maximum recorded weight of the caught pacu was 30 kg, and its length was 120 cm.

Habitat

This freshwater fish common in the river basins of the Amazon, Orinoco and Paraguay. Moreover, in size, it is considered the most big fish Amazons. This species is found in Peru, Bolivia, as well as in Honduras, Taiwan, USA, Panama, Dominican Republic and in the Philippines. In the last listed countries, it was imported.

Lifestyle

As a rule, individuals of this species stay alone in streams overgrown with vegetation and areas with good depth. Juvenile pre-pubescent pacu prefer to swim in polluted river waters, where adults swim during the flood and rainy season to be thoroughly satiated.


Another interesting fact is also the fact that they are able to make sounds similar to hitting a drum or croaking when competitors appear and while eating.

pacu food

Despite the fact that this species belongs to piranhas, they are not aggressive and various vegetation serves as food for them. The menu of young individuals includes zoological plankton, as well as a variety of insects, crustaceans, and snails. In addition, pacu can feast on seeds, fruits and nuts that attacked the water, which are crushed with powerful teeth.


A highly developed sense of smell helps her find the food she needs, so pacu are able to smell the exhaled smell of fruits even before they get into the river water.

pacu breeding

IN vivo, individuals of this species of piranha rise to spawn upstream the Amazon River. Having sailed into the flooded plains, pacu females spawn, which is colored greenish and has a size of one millimeter. After the eggs are fertilized, they develop very quickly.


Pacu spawning lasts for several months from December to April.

Pacu fish and man

IN Lately, this type of fish has become very popular among avid aquarists. In captivity, the fish are very shy and may even faint. They grow up to 45 - 60 cm and require an aquarium with a very large volume of water to keep them. For pacu feeding, not only plant foods are used in the form of lettuce, spinach leaves, dandelions, nettles, fruits, and peas, both fresh and canned, but also pieces of meat. Also do not refuse, feed in the form of granules, and

Paku is common name several species of omnivorous South American freshwater piranhas. Pacu and common piranha (Pygocentrus) have the same number of teeth, although there are differences in their alignment; piranha teeth are pointed, razor-shaped with a pronounced mesial bite (the lower jaw protrudes forward), while the pacu has square straight teeth with a slight mesial or even distal bite (the upper front teeth are pushed forward in relation to the lower ones). As an adult, wild pacu weigh more than 30 kg, they are much larger than piranhas.

The designation Pacu is of Brazilian-Indian origin. As soon as large representatives of the genus Colossoma appeared in the aquarium hobby, they immediately received the name - pacu.

In the Amazon, this word is generally used to refer to small and medium-sized representatives of the genera Metynnis, Mylossoma and Myleus. At the same time, Colossoma macropomum is known as "tambaqui", and Piaractus brachypomus is known as "pirapitinga".

Photo 2.

Pacu, along with piranhas, is a close relative of popular aquarium characins, such as neons or tetras. The current classification of these fish is complex and, in many cases, controversial. This is due to the fact that ichthyologists, when reconstructing relationships between taxa, rely on characteristics that can randomly overlap (cladistics). In some cases, DNA analysis is performed, which confuses rather than adds harmony to the arrangement of species. Ultimately, an artificial arbitrary classification is obtained.

Head profile and teeth of common piranha (left), head profile and teeth of pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus, right)

Piranhas and pacu belong to the subfamily Serrasalminae ("Toothed salmon"), all members of which have a toothed keel running along the abdomen. However, diet and tooth structure are very different in these groups.

Photo 3.

Pacu currently includes the following genera: Acnodon, Colossoma, Metynnis, Mylesinus (Mylopus), Mylossoma, Ossubtus, Piaractus, Tometes, and Utiaritichthys. Each of these groups includes one or more species. For example, commercially available black and red-bellied pacu are the species Colossoma macropomum and Colossoma brachypomum, respectively, and Piaractus mesopotamicus is known as Paraná river pacu.

Photo 4.

All representatives of the pacu inhabit the rivers and streams of the Amazon and Orinoco basins of the Amazonian lowlands, where they are part of the neotropical fish fauna.

The fish are often marketed as "herbivorous piranhas". With the right level of care, they can become responsive pets. However, there is evidence that calls into question the possibility of keeping fish by ordinary aquarists. Despite the fact that pacu are not as carnivorous as piranhas, and their jaws are designed to crack nuts and seeds, they can be dangerous to humans.

In particular, in the Edinburgh Museum "The World of Butterflies and Insects" in Scotland, a pacu bit off the finger of a child who urgently needed surgery. The manager of the zoological department commented on this situation as follows: sea ​​world", Matthew Kane (Matthew Kane):" Pacu eat anything, and even children's fingers. Another incident occurred in Fort Worth, Texas, when a 60cm pacu jumped out of an aquarium and bit off its owner's nose. Later, the nose was sewn back, but the left nostril could not be saved.

Photo 5.

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It is assumed that different kinds pacu appeared in the rivers of the United States (Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky and others) precisely because of the carelessness of aquarists. The Department of Conservation recommended that Americans who want to get rid of bloodthirsty pets cut off their heads and throw them in a trash can, or use them for food, but the Aquatic Nuisance Species advises sending fish to veterinary services, pet stores and schools.

Pacu originally roamed the waters of the Amazon, but now it is in North America, and in Asia, after sport fishing was allowed on it. In 1994, two fishermen from New Guinea were killed after being attacked mysterious creature in a lake that practically riddled their bodies. The men died from blood loss. As it turned out later, the responsibility for this "crime" lay precisely on the pack. These attacks prompted world-famous extreme angler Jeremy Wade to travel to this Guinean lake and catch the culprit, the giant killer paca. Attacks on people and animals are committed only by young immature individuals of the brown pacu.

Photo 7.

As commercial species Pacu was introduced into the Sipik River in 1994 and into the Rama River in 1997. locals they do not like these fish because they eat native species, including young crocodiles, and occasionally attack people.

While pacu are predominantly vegetarian in nature, there are reports in Papua New Guinea that fish reach very high large sizes and attack people. In fact, the largest individuals are caught in this state in comparison with the rest of the South America. They gained notoriety as "egg eaters" for biting off swimmers' genitals and leaving them to bleed in two separate incidents in 2001, in two separate incidents, red-bellied pacu.

Pacu are one of the main commercial species of the Amazon. In addition, due to their resistance to low oxygen content and low dietary requirements, they are a favorite subject of aquaculture.

Research has shown that by palatability Farm-raised pacu is similar to striped bass, tilapia, and rainbow trout hybrids, but superior to catfish. In South America, its meat is famous for its softness and sweet taste.

Photo 8.

Fish brown pacu ( Colossoma macropomum) reaches a length of 108 centimeters, and its weight is approximately 25 kilograms, although there are specimens weighing up to 40 kg. Pacu lives in the Amazon and Orinoco basins and belongs to freshwater piranhas . The appearance of the pacu resembles piranhas: the body is high, laterally compressed, the eyes are large. Body color - from gray to black, with variations. About 10% of body weight is fat.

Brown pacu keep, as a rule, singly, juveniles consume zooplankton, insects, snails. Adult fish are mainly herbivorous, feeding on fruits and other food of plant origin. Young individuals stay in the waters of the river until puberty.

A distinctive feature of the brown pacu is a terrible set of teeth that shock with an amazing resemblance to human ones. However, human teeth are not able to inflict such terrible wounds on the victim as the teeth of a pacu predator.

Photo 9.

Started up in European rivers predatory fish that attacks people. However, the worst thing is that the goal of the river predator is male genitalia. It is almost impossible to avoid an attack when meeting with such a fish, therefore the authorities of Denmark and Sweden, where several fishermen have already died, urge citizens to refrain from swimming for a while.

In Scandinavia, it has already been confirmed that several fishermen died from loss of blood after the attack of a predatory fish. How this fish got into an unusual habitat is still unknown. This type of fish is called pacu, and it was found in the Öresund River in Denmark. In appearance, this fish is as unpleasant as it is dangerous, it has a rather awesome appearance and big teeth.

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Photo 12.

Pacu is a South American freshwater fish found in most rivers in the Amazon and Orinoco basins of the Amazonian lowlands. Paku also made it to Papua New Guinea where they were artificially bred to help the local fishing industry. Pacu shares common roots with piranhas in the genus Serrasalminae, although they have different habits and preferences. The piranha is a carnivorous species, while the Pacu is an omnivore, with a plant preference. The difference is evident in the structure of their teeth. The piranha has razor-sharp teeth, while the pacu's are squarer, straighter, and eerily reminiscent of human teeth.

Pacu use its teeth mainly to grind nuts and fruits, but they also occasionally eat other fish and invertebrates. They commonly eat floating fruits and nuts that fall from the trees into the Amazon, and on a few occasions have even attacked the testicles of male swimmers, mistaking them for nuts. They earned a dangerous reputation after they castrated several local fishermen in Papua New Guinea. So when fish were found in several lakes in Denmark, and later in Washington, New Jersey and Illinois, a little panic ensued.

While Pacu are not aggressive carnivores like piranhas, they crushing system jaws can be dangerous. One toddler needed surgery after a pacu bit his finger at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. The manager then commented on the incident, saying "Pacu will eat anything, even baby wiggling fingers."


These fish are legal in the United States, and can be purchased from pet stores. The problem is that many aquarists don't realize that pacu can grow over a meter long, which is way too long for a typical aquarium. home aquarium. When a pet outgrows their fish tank, the owners end up releasing it in nearby lakes. This explains the fact that fish began to be found in many water bodies outside their natural environment a habitat.

If you want even more creepy underwater inhabitants, then for this there is a separate photo tape, where as many as 25 no less strange creatures are collected.



(Colossoma macropomum), or a large colossom, belongs to the small genus Colossoma, widespread in South America, to which four more species belong. big fish: C. brachypomum - black colossom, C. Bidens - red-breasted colossoma, C. Oculus - toothed colossoma and C. orbignyanum - orbignian colossoma.

The largest member of the genus. In the Amazon basin, it is the second largest fish after the arapaima. Individual specimens can reach a length of more than one meter and weigh about 30 kg, with 10% of body weight coming from fat.

The genus colossom is a member of the Characidae family, which includes such popular aquarium fish like neon and tetra.

It was first described in 1816 by the Cuvier biology meter.

The existing classification of the family is quite complex, and, to date, is controversial.

In body shape, all colossoms are very similar to the common piranha, infamously known for its bloodthirstiness.

Some taxonomists even distinguish black pacu and common piranha into a separate subfamily Serrasalminae (“Toothed salmon”), all of which have a toothed keel running along the abdomen.

Despite the significant difference in size, black pacu and piranhas the same number of teeth, very different in shape, which indicates differences in the food habits of these species.
If piranhas have pointed, razor-shaped teeth, triangular in shape, and their lower jaw protrudes noticeably forward, then the upper jaw protrudes forward in the pacu, and the teeth are square and somewhat reminiscent of human teeth.

The teeth of the black pacu are square and somewhat reminiscent of human teeth.

Strong teeth allow the fish to crack open the hard shell of nuts inaccessible to other herbivorous fish.

black pacu widely distributed throughout almost the entire Amazon basin, with the exception of the upper reaches major rivers with black and clear water. Judging by the tributaries of the Rio Madeira and Rio Negro, this species lives in them only at a distance of about 150 km from the white-water rivers.

The high water period falls on the time interval between mid-December and mid-June.
When the water level in the rivers begins to rise rapidly, adults black pacu gather in flocks and swim to spawn in white waters. The exact location of the spawning grounds is still unknown, most likely they are located along flooded grassy dams. After spawning, the flocks break up and the fish migrate to floodplain forests flooded with black and clear waters, where they feed on fruits and seeds.

black pacu collect their favorite fruits and seeds from the floodplain flora in the sequence in which they enter the water. They equally willingly consume large seeds of both dry and juicy fruits. For example, the seeds of the rubber tree (Hevea spruceana, Euphorbiaceae) make up about 58% of total fruits consumed by the fish at this time. Hevea fruits are capsules that explode after ripening, and the seeds contained in them scatter in different directions. Hevea seeds are about 4 cm in size and are covered with a very strong shell, which can only be destroyed by the jaws. black pacu. Fish gather under rubber trees, waiting for seeds to fall into the water.

Second most important in the diet black pacu, are considered large fruits palms (Astrocaryum jauary), which are covered with a no less hard shell.

During this period, fish accumulate a significant amount of fat, which they will need in the future, when the water level becomes low and the amount of food is sharply reduced.

Depending on the nature of the floodplain and the water level, the fish remain in the flooded forest for four to seven months. When the water level drops, most black pacu slides into the original riverbeds, and some fish remain in floodplain lakes.

As soon as large representatives of the genus Colossoma appeared in aquariums, they immediately began to be called pacu.

The word pacu is of Brazilian-Indian origin. In the Amazon, this name is given to representatives of the genera Metynnis, Mylossoma and Myleus, smaller than Colossoma macropomum, which is better known as tambaqui in its homeland.

juveniles black pacu and common piranha is very similar. Medium-sized dark spots are scattered over the silver-steel body. This coloration, coupled with a peculiar shape, makes them attractive objects for keeping in aquariums.

As it grows, expressive coloring black pacu loses contrast and becomes from light brown to almost black. The anal and pectoral fins are colored to match the body. And on the caudal fin, two wide, black, vertical stripes are distinguishable. One of which runs at the base of the caudal fin, the other fringes it.

The intensity of the shades is affected by the transparency and color of the water. In black water, colored with humic acids, as in the Rio Negro, the color of the fish is very dark, while in white waters, it is much lighter, up to light golden.

warm look, optimum temperature water 25-27°C, the value of 14°C can be considered critical, below which the fish die.

Hydrochemical parameters of water special significance do not have: total hardness can be in the range from 2 to 20 °, pH from 6 to 8 units. The main thing is that the aquarium has effective filtration and periodic water changes.

Resistant to low oxygen content in water.
The water added to the aquarium should be well settled, as the species is sensitive to gases dissolved in water, which can cause gas embolism in fish, which can result in the death of fish.

Despite the large size black pacu relatively peaceful fish, besides their oral apparatus not well suited for hunting other fish.

Any medium and large non-aggressive species are suitable for joint keeping, in particular herbivorous chain mail catfish, which will pick up food leftovers from the ground.

Being frightened, it can hit the glass of the aquarium hard and if it is not thick enough, then there is a high probability of its destruction with the ensuing consequences.

In an aquarium appropriate for the size of the fish and proper care black pacu can become responsive pets.

However, care should be taken when having these fish in an aquarium. Despite the fact that the diet black pacu Unlike the diet of piranhas, which consists mainly of plant foods, their strong jaws, capable of cracking very hard seeds and nuts, can be a serious danger.

So in Scotland, in the Edinburgh Museum "The World of Butterflies and Insects", he bit off the finger of a child who inadvertently lowered it into the aquarium. The child then required emergency surgery.

A similar incident occurred in Fort Worth (Texas, USA), when a sixty-centimeter jumped out of the water and bit off the nose of its owner, who was leaning over the aquarium.

In the pet trade, it often appears as a herbivorous piranha. The juveniles sold usually measure 5-8 cm, but sellers often forget to warn potential buyers that the small size of the aquarium will not be able to contain the growth of these fish. As a result, frivolous aquarists who failed to create decent living conditions for purchased black pacu, outgrown their aquariums, release them into natural reservoirs.

Being tropical fish, black pacu perish in too cold water but adapt well to warm waters where they often compete with native species.

Thanks to this carelessness of aquarists, various types of pacu have appeared in many rivers in the United States.

In the nineties of the last century, as a commercial fish, it was introduced into the Sipik and Ramu rivers (Papua New Guinea). Local conditions turned out to be so favorable that the fish began to grow to such sizes that they had never reached in their homeland.

Despite this, the natives do not like black pacu because they reduce the number of local species, including young crocodiles. There are even rumors of an attack black pacu on people.

But in the tropical part of South America, black pacu It is a favored aquaculture species due to its amazingly fast growth rate and high palatability of the meat, which is renowned for its tenderness and sweetish taste, reminiscent of a cross between tilapia and rainbow trout.
During the first year of life, juveniles black pacu gaining weight of more than one kilogram.

Under optimal conditions, life expectancy black pacu in an aquarium can reach 25 years.

Black pacu diet

black pacu Omnivorous, they consume both animal and plant foods. But excessively high-calorie food can quickly lead fish to morbid obesity, so animal feed should not exceed 10% of their diet. This primarily concerns adults; for adolescents, the share of animal feed can be higher, about 40%.

The focus should be on vegetable feed because in nature fish prefer them.

Willingly eats pieces of soft tropical fruits (bananas, figs) and vegetables (tomatoes, pumpkins, lettuce, cabbage, etc.), without much difficulty they can even eat watermelon peels.

Reproduction of black pacu

In nature black pacu tend to stay alone.
Their spawning is seasonal and occurs during the rainy season, when the water level in the rivers rises strongly, causing a decrease in hardness and pH.

At this time, adults gather in large flocks and migrate into the depths of the flooded selva, where they spawn in areas rich in vegetation.

juveniles black pacu prefers floodplains of black-water rivers, where it feeds on insects, mollusks and decaying vegetation.

Sex differences in black pacu are weakly expressed. Sexually mature females grown under optimal conditions are noticeably larger and fuller than males. Distinctive feature females serves as the shape of the abdomen.

In an aquarium, get offspring from black pacu quite problematic, the limiting factor here is the volume of the spawning ground. The minimum dimensions of which are 160X60X80 cm. Spawning black pacu reminiscent of carp spawning.

During industrial breeding, sexual products are taken from the producers, after which the fertilized eggs are incubated in special containers.

The fertility of females is from 50 to 200 thousand eggs. Caviar is glued to the substrate (water hyacinth, fishing line, etc.) or scattered along the bottom. At a temperature of 26-29°C, the larvae swim on the 5th-7th day.

The smallest plankton or high-quality fine-grained dry food with the obligatory addition of plant components serves as a starting food for them.

The role of black pacu in nature

In nature black pacu act as seed distributors. The fish spread up to several kilometers from where the seeds were swallowed. Moreover, the seeds are distributed over the territories where it is convenient for plants to grow, along the flood plains in the floodplains of the rivers.

Black pacu in nature

It is likely that black pacu together with land animals perform key role in seed dispersal in the Amazon. Large individuals are most effective in such work, as they eat more and swim further. But such specimens in nature are becoming less and less every year. Overfishing has reduced some populations by up to 90%.

Given the role that black pacu play in the distribution of trees, it can be assumed that the disappearance of fish may lead to a reduction in the area of ​​tropical rainforests.