Hellenic Forums Omogenia - YASOU - Hellenism: Jaws, Jr.

They're just little fishes, but piranhas can turn you into a skeleton in a few seconds flat. Nice thought, huh?

The Name. The word "piranha" comes from the Tupi language of South America and means "toothed fish". In some local dialects of the Amazon region, the name for common household scissors is also "piranha".

Not a Shark. A piranha only has one row of upper and lower teeth, not several, as many sharks do. But its teeth are sharper than almost any shark teeth.When the piranha snaps them together, says one expert, "the points in the upper row fit into the notches of the lower row, and the power of the jaw muscles is such that there is scarcely and living substance save the hardest ironwood that will not be clipped off".Natives often use the teeth as cutting blades.

Fishing Tip. Piranhas are capable of biting through a fishing net. If caught on a hook, they usually die from the injury. So a good way to "bring them in alive" is to throw a chunk of meat in the water. The fish will bite into it so hard that you can lift bunches of them out of the water before they let go.

Behavior. Some things that attract piranhas are blood and splashing. Experts disagree over whether the fish will attack a calm, uninjured person, but piranhas are definitely territorial. That's why Amazon fishermen know that if they catch a piranha, they'd better try another spot if they expect to catch anything else.

Deadly Diet. Surprisingly, only a few species of piranha are meat-eaters; many eat fruits and other plants that fall into the river.But those meat-eaters can do exactly what you think they can. In the 19th century, for example, Teddy Roosevelt wrote about his adventures along the Amazon. He claimed to have seen piranhas quickly make a skeleton of a man who had fallen off his horse and into the river.

Heavy~Metal Angel

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