# What Kind Of Piranha Is This?



## Guest (May 28, 2011)

thanks


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

Looks like S maculatus. Not a very clear photo.


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## MPG (Mar 14, 2010)

Got any better pics?

My 1st guess is a Spilo.


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## Guest (May 28, 2011)

best pic i can get with the tannins in the tank and my iphone... he moves to much.


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

c_granger21 said:


> best pic i can get with the tannins in the tank and my iphone... he moves to much.


Understand. Seriously doubt its S spilopleura. Do you know if this was a tank raised specimen.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Based on that photo it looks like a mac though a clearer picture is best if you want to be certain.


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## Piranha-Freak101 (Dec 8, 2010)

Maculatus you can see the black band on the tail fin


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## Genesis8 (Sep 11, 2009)

Looks like a Ruby Red Spilo.


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

Genesis8 said:


> Looks like a Ruby Red Spilo.


Based on what?


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## memento (Jun 3, 2009)

Looks like maculatus but hard to tell from this picture.
What colour is the ventral area ?


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## Guest (May 29, 2011)




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## memento (Jun 3, 2009)

The pictures are probably not showing the real colours of the fish. Everything seems pretty red









What colour is the belly in reality, and how does the caudal tail look ? Does it have a dark terminal band or a dark midline band, with a hyaline part at the end ?


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## Guest (May 29, 2011)

underside has a tiny bit of red. caudal fin has a very dark band right on the very end of the tail.


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## memento (Jun 3, 2009)

Then I guess it's S.maculatus


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## Guest (May 29, 2011)

wish I could get a better picture of him without the water all stained....... need a more definitive answer.....


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## Genesis8 (Sep 11, 2009)

Shape looks like my RRS.


hastatus said:


> Looks like a Ruby Red Spilo.


Based on what?
[/quote]


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

I can appreciate the body shape but S maculatus are polymorphic. So not enough to convince me of it being S spilopleura.


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## memento (Jun 3, 2009)

c_granger21 said:


> wish I could get a better picture of him without the water all stained....... need a more definitive answer.....


Definite answers are very hard when it comes down to S.maculatus or S.spilopleura. They are a close appearance to each other.


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## Guest (May 30, 2011)

using a super bright flashlight.... i notice his red coloring goes up behind his gills.... and then turns a bit more yellow towards the mid section but notvery dominate coloring..

a little off topic.... if noone on here can tell the difference... how do the sponsors know exactly what all their tiny P's are????


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## memento (Jun 3, 2009)

c_granger21 said:


> a little off topic.... if noone on here can tell the difference... how do the sponsors know exactly what all their tiny P's are????


A lot of importers do not really know what they are selling. They accept the way they are labeled by the exporters. Look at THIS topic for example...


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## Guest (May 30, 2011)

guess i will just have to wait until he grows up ! I just hope I didnt get ripped off that would be a shame if we cant even trust sponsors....


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

c_granger21 said:


> guess i will just have to wait until he grows up ! I just hope I didnt get ripped off that would be a shame if we cant even trust sponsors....


Harsh to accuse a dealer of ripping you off. S spilopleura is a complex species. Just be glad you got a nice specimen.


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## memento (Jun 3, 2009)

It's not like being ripped off, for that implies it's on purpose. It probably isn't, it's just hard to identify them.

Have a look HERE, for a Jégu's description.


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## Guest (May 30, 2011)

accused noone of ripping me off.... said I hoped I didnt since it is so hard to identify... and a huge price difference. very happy with my P.


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

Was simply responding to this: _I just hope I didnt get ripped off_ Anyway, enjoy your fish.











memento said:


> It's not like being ripped off, for that implies it's on purpose. It probably isn't, it's just hard to identify them.
> 
> Have a look HERE, for a Jégu's description.


 As you can see, Jegu didn't comment on S. nigricans. Too bad. It might have cleaned things up more.


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## memento (Jun 3, 2009)

Well, in a way itś a good thing he didn't. The spilopleura / maculatus discussion is tough enough without adding another, dubious, speciesname to it...


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

Jegu resurrected another Pygocentrus species name "palometa". I had to list it with the 3 species of Pygocentrus. So far no one to my knowledge had used it on any dubious species.


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## memento (Jun 3, 2009)

Pygocentrus palometa is a nomen dubium, isn't it ? Wasn't it described by Valenciennes in 1850 ?


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

memento said:


> Pygocentrus palometa is a nomen dubium, isn't it ? Wasn't it described by Valenciennes in 1850 ?


I don't recall, would have to look at OPEFE lol. But yes, it is a dubious name.


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## Piranha-Freak101 (Dec 8, 2010)

very hard pic to tell by but i would put my money on Mac


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