Red-bellied Piranha

These beautifully coloured fish make a most attractive display at the Calgary Zoo.

"The Red-bellied piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) is a species of piranha. This species lives in the Amazon River Basin, coastal rivers of north-eastern Brazil, and the basin of the Paraguay, Paraná and Essequibo Rivers. The red bellied piranha has the reputation for being one of the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. They have a set of razor sharp teeth which are capable of stripping flesh from prey and dead animals. As their name suggests, they have a reddish tinge to the belly when fully grown, although juveniles are a silver colour with darker spots. They grow to a maximum length of 33 cm and a weight of 3.5 kg." From Wikipedia.