''Piaractus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of large

serrasalmid The Serrasalmidae (serrasalmids) are a family of characiform fishes native to freshwater habitats of South America. They include more than 90 species. The name means "serrated salmon family", which refers to the serrated keel running along the ...

from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The two traditionally recognized species of ''Piaractus'' are very similar in appearance and were formerly included in the genus ''Colossoma'', which currently only contains another similar species, the

tambaqui The tambaqui (''Colossoma macropomum'') is a large species of freshwater fish in the family Serrasalmidae. It is native to tropical South America, but kept in aquaculture and Introduced species, introduced elsewhere. It is also known by the names ...

(''Colossoma macropomum''). A third ''Piaractus'' was described in 2019 as a new species, but it was formerly considered a subpopulation of ''P. brachypomus''.

Species

There are currently three recognized species in this genus: * ''

Piaractus brachypomus ''Piaractus brachypomus'' also known as the red-bellied Pacu or pirapitinga, is a large species of pacu, a close relative of piranhas and silver dollar (fish), silver dollars, in the serrasalmid family.Nico, L.; P. Fuller; and M. Neilson (22 Octo ...

'' ( G. Cuvier, 1818) (Pirapatinga or red-bellied pacu) * ''

Piaractus mesopotamicus ''Piaractus mesopotamicus'', the small-scaled pacu, Paraná River pacu or simply pacu (a name shared with Pacu, other species), is a South American ray-finned fish that is native to the Paraguay River, Paraguay-Paraná River basin,Nico, L.; and B ...

'' ( Holmberg, 1887) (small-scaled pacu or Paraná River pacu) * '' Piaractus orinoquensis'' Escobar et al., 2019

References

Serrasalmidae Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann Fish of South America Ray-finned fish genera {{Characiformes-stub