Steamed fish, braised fish, grilled fish ...... There are all sorts of ways to eat fish, but there is one fish in the amazon that humans have avoided, and that is the fearsome piranha.

The piranha has long, triangular teeth and a powerful bite that can easily tear off a chunk of flesh as it swings its body from side to side. If an animal is bitten by a piranha, it will soon be a living, breathing creature that will turn into white bones.

Why have piranhas not dominated the amazon rivers with such ferocity and fear? Do they have a natural enemy to fear?

Piranhas, the "Wolves of the water"

Piranhas, also known as piranhas, or water tigers, are really not much to look at, with a flat body equipped with a skull as hard as iron. Their mouths open to reveal a mouth full of fangs that are truly frightening. Adult piranhas look almost identical to males and females, making it difficult to tell them apart.

The bright green back is particularly bright and the red belly, red with green, looks particularly tacky. The adult fish is also small, measuring only 15-24cm in length. Despite their appearance, piranhas have sharp teeth and inevitably come out in large groups on each trip.

If there is a whiff of blood, the whole clan is bound to come out. Their sharp teeth bite down on their prey, and they are determined to rip off a piece of flesh. Piranhas are also highly intelligent, and when they find their prey they will first attack the vulnerable parts of the prey, such as the eyes and tail.

When the prey is too weak to run, they will rise up and bite and eat the meat together. Because of their ferocious nature, they are also known as the "Wolves of the water".

Piranhas like nothing better than to spend time in fast-flowing waters, searching for food in the morning and evening. They are not very demanding and adaptable to their habitat, and the small fish in the rivers are all food for the piranhas.

It is said that a man once witnessed a cow entering a river to take a quick bath when a school of piranhas swarmed the river and in a matter of seconds the river was red with blood. In a matter of seconds, the river was red with blood and a large cow was reduced to a pile of bones as the piranhas gnawed away at it.

On 2 january 2022, a 22-year-old man went swimming in a river near his home in paraguay, but he did not return home for a long time. The family thought something was wrong and called the police, who searched for over 40 minutes and eventually found his body in the river, which had been gnawed apart by piranhas when they retrieved it.

In just under 2 months, local reports of piranhas killing 4 people and injuring 20 others are horrifying!

Piranhas are native to the amazon, so if they are so powerful, why aren't they reigning supreme in the amazon rivers?

Piranhas have too many nemeses to run rampant in the amazon

The primitive food chain is mutually exclusive, allowing different species to continue to survive in nature, and piranhas have their nemesis, even if they are fierce.

If a creature is overwhelming or dominant in a place, it must be because it has no natural predators. Many fish have evolved over the centuries to combat piranhas, which have "Sharp weapons" In their mouths. Piranhas have many natural predators in the amazon, and it is impossible to dominate.

One of the species that piranhas fear is the electric eel, which is not afraid and is even a little elated to come across schools of piranhas. Before the piranhas could get close enough, the electric eel used its best trick to discharge a discharge of electricity and the piranhas were electrocuted to death, ending up as food in the eel's mouth.

In addition to the electric eel, the spiny catfish also has a trick up its sleeve for dealing with piranhas. They can swim much faster than piranhas and when they see them they run under their bellies to protect themselves in a 'hide and seek' style.

Piranhas have sharp teeth, and the spines of the spiny catfish can make it impossible for piranhas to get at them. They can also kill piranhas with their spines, making them the number one killer in the amazon, and the fierce piranhas have to settle for fourth place, so piranhas don't dare mess with them.

Although piranhas are more ferocious, they are more of a class act than crocodiles. In terms of size and fierceness, piranhas are no match for them. The crocodile sometimes eats piranhas for food, but they are small, but they like to be in groups, and there is a lot of meat in one bite.

There are many natural predators in the rivers, with otters, dolphins and others being the piranha's nemesis. Outside the rivers, piranhas have many natural predators too, with egrets, herons, humans and more eating them. It is the fact that piranhas have many natural predators that makes them insufficient to dominate the amazon river.

Piranhas have too many shortcomings of their own

God has opened a window and closed a door for them. Piranhas are fierce enough to scare many people, but in addition to having too many natural predators, they also have too many shortcomings of their own that limit the growth of their population.

Piranhas, "Blind" In the water

One of the shortcomings of piranhas is their poor eyesight. Amazon rivers are fast-flowing and the water is murky. Visibility in the river is about 1 metre, and piranhas cannot see even a metre away, usually only 25cm in front of them, which is not much different from being 'blind'.

If the water is clear, they can only see up to about 1 metre, so their eyesight is not really good.

Piranha reproduction rates are too low

A female piranha can lay over 1,000 eggs at a time and they will hatch 9-10 days after spawning. It is reasonable to expect such a large number of eggs to be able to reproduce quickly. However, because of the rapid currents in the amazon, many eggs are washed away within minutes of being laid, making it difficult for them to survive.

Secondly, scavengers and various fish in the rivers also eat the eggs of piranhas. This has resulted in piranha numbers remaining low and reproduction rates low.

Piranhas may be fierce, but they are also wimps when out of their group

Piranhas may be fierce in the water, swarming at the first sign of blood, but they can be a real wimp out of the group and on their own.

We usually see piranhas in ornamental fish, and they are particularly docile when kept in a tank. When they hear movement, they will run and hide in a corner, unlike the rumoured scaremongers.

It is said that dogs are powerful, but it turns out that piranhas are also fierce because they have a large number of "Brothers and sisters", and if they are the only fish left, they are too weak.

It is because piranhas are so "Weak" When they are out of the group that they are not destined to become the dominant fish in the amazon.

Piranhas are fierce in the rivers, but they still cannot escape from the human table. Despite their name, piranhas are rarely eaten by humans. They usually do not actively attack large animals, preferring to eat small fish and decaying carcasses.

But after smelling blood, piranhas will start to riot and go on a feeding frenzy. Some believe that piranhas have a keen sense of smell and are sensitive to blood, while others believe that piranhas become "Frenzied" When they sense fluctuations in the water.

With so many piranhas now being served on the table every year, is it piranhas, or is it man-eating fish? The decline in the number of piranhas is not unrelated to human fishing. Biologists say that piranhas may become extinct in the near future.