pacu

[prettygoodword]

pacu (PAH-koo) - n., any of several South American freshwater fishes (family Serrasalmidae) related to the piranha.


Unlike the piranha, pacu eat almost exclusively on plant matter. There's a few dozen species in eight genera, and some can get quite big:


Thanks, WikiMedia!

The name is from Brazilian Portuguese, from Tupi paku. In the Brazilian Amazon, interestingly, the name is usually used only for the smaller to medium species.

---L.

Comments

[dewline]

This one looks on the cute side of such things.

[prettygoodword]

Our local zoo has some, in the same enclosure as the caiman, with an underwater window to watch them drift back and forth. I like to do that, but the kid is ... impatient and always wants to leave after three seconds.

Maybe if I mention they're piranha cousins, we can stay an extra two seconds ...

[lokifan]

I didn't know they were mostly plant-eaters! My best friend works at the London Aquarium and a few months ago a bunch of the pacus ganged up on a pregnant one, and ate its tail. It had to be put down :( So my liking for them has greatly diminished.

[prettygoodword]

!!