ANNOTATED LIST OF THE SPECIES 245 Incredible numbers are found in small space, sometimes. Duguid (page 93) describes the taking of piranha on lines with numerous unbaited hooks. This is probably the weighted throwline described elsewhere. The Guiana Indians prefer to first concentrate their quarry by baiting, then to shoot arrows into the crowded waters. Paez asserts that they have a preference for red objects, even human victims clad in red.
It appears from some accounts that at least not all the species of this subfamily are totally carnivorous. White from long years’ observation reports that they are fond of the seeds of citrus fruits; that they congregated about a citrate manufactory to devour the seed and pulp of limes thrown into the river. That such predators, whose extreme vigor and rapacity are expressed even in line and color, should be useful to man does not seem credible. But as a matter of fact they are rather favorite food fishes in many sections (Roosevelt, 300), and their provocative temperaments make them especially easy to take. Aside from food, there is another use to which primitive man has put them from time immemorial, and from Guiana to Peru, that is, the lower jaw is removed and used as standard equipment on every blowgun, being lashed to the weapon by a chambira-fiber cord. The hunter, at the last moment before dipping his dart into the poison, rings the point deeply between the piranha teeth so that it will break off in the wound and complete its mission. (Im Thurn, 137; White, 359; up de Graff; Waterton, 134, etc.)
The Guarani of southwestern Brazil and Bolivia are said by Tolten (page 257), to employ the Jaws of piranha as trimmers for keeping the hair evened on the forehead. It is reported further that when the first white-man’s scissors were shown these people, they gave them the name of the fish as the nearest synonym. A still more astonishing use of this fish subfamily is one reported by Paez (page 156). He says that among the inundated savannas about the mouth of the Orinoco, where for months inhumation of the dead is impossible, the caribe solves the problem. They quickly deflesh the corpse, the skeleton then is dyed, decorated, and placed in mortuary places of honor in the platform villages. The Carib term caribe is the source of the tribal name, and signifies cannibal, that is man-eating. But considerable contradictory information comes to us as to whether the fishes cannibalize upon their own kind. It has been my observation that they will turn as readily upon their own wounded as upon any other form, fish or otherwise. Lange reports feeding them fragments of the meat of their own kind as a form of sport.
Little is known of the life-histories or of the younger stages of any species. Waterton (page 454) found their eggs among the roots of hanas which he definitely assigned to piraya. Hartt, a reliable observer, describes the nests of Pygocentrus as depressions fanned out in sand during flood stages, where the eggs were laid in a ball of two or three inches diameter.
An excellent general account of the Serrasalmoninae comes from the pen of Beebe, 1917, Chapter X XIII; more recently we have a chapter on piranha in Cutright’s “Great Naturalists Explore South America.”’
246 FISHES OF WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA Subfamily: MYLINAE Resembling the Serrasalmoninae closely in the great depth, the compressed form, and serrated ventral line.
Mandible with a single series of teeth, and in some cases a pair of subconical teeth behind those of the symphysis and in contact with them; palate and mawillary edentulous; dorsal fin rather long, ventrals very small; anal long, oblique; adipose variable; gill-rakers well developed. Genus 113: METYNNIS Cope Metynnis Cope, 1878, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., XVIT, 693; HKigenmann,1910,Rept.PrincetonUniv.Exped.Patagonia,III,443; ‘igenmann,1912,Mem.CarnegieMus.,V,389; Kigenmann,1915,Ann.CarnegieMus.,LX,261,267; Ahl, 1923, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, XI, 15; Norman,1928,Proc.Zool.Soe.London,815. Sealeina Fowler, 1906 (1907), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., LVIII, 478. Type: Metynnis luna Cope Guianas to Peru and Paraguay basin Belly trenchant and with a serrate median series of scales; premaxillary with two series of teeth; mandible with a pair of teeth behind the front series; a procumbent, predorsal spine present; adipose exceeding half the length of the dorsal; free margin of anal slightly convex, lobate anteriorly, or sinuate; dorsal falcate, with fewer than 20 rays.
298. METYNNIS LUNA Cope Metynnis luna Cope, 1878, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., XVII, 692, Peruvian Amazon; Fowler, 1906 (1907), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., LVII, 479, fig. 58, Orton collection of Cope; Figenmann, 1910, Rept. Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, IIT, 443; Ahl, 1923, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, XI, 20; Norman,1928,Proc.Zool.Soc.London,816,one,Amazon. MyleteshypsauchenUlrey,1895,Ann.N.Y.Acad.Sei.,VIIT,299. Maranon basin 15610,6,68-98mm.,LagoSanango,Allen,November,1920. 15698,1,33mm.,LagoCashiboya,Allen,August,1920. 15802,4,62-68mm.,Yarinacocha,Allen,August,1920. 299. MeryNNIS HYPSAUCHEN (Miller and Troschel) Myletes hypsauchen Miller and Troschel, 1845, Horae Ichth., I, 38, pl. x, fig. 1; Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1848, Hist. Nat. Poiss., X XII, 219; Ginther, 1864, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., V, 376; Steindachner, 1882 (1883), Denksch. KK. Akad. Wiss. Wien, XLVI, 16, Rio Huallaga, one specimen.
Metynnis hypsauchen Cope, 1878, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., XVII, 691; . Eigenmann and Eigenmann, 1891, Proc. U. 8S. Nat. Mus., XIV, 61; << EKigenmann, 1910, Rept. Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, IIT, 443;
bo ree ~J ANNOTATED LIST OF THE SPECIES Eigenmann,1912,Mem.CarnegieMus.,V,389; Eigenmann,1915,Ann.CarnegieMus.,IX,269; Ahl, 1923, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, XI, 21; Norman,1928,Proc.Zool.Soc.London,819. Guianas to Rios Huallaga, Guaporé, and Paraguay Genus 114: MYLEUS Miller and Troschel Myleus Miller and Troschel, 1845, Horae Ichth., I, 24; Higenmann,1912,Mem.CarnegieMus.,V,393. Type: Myleus setiger Miller and Troschel Orinoco and Guianas to Rios Sao Francisco and Paraguay Belly trenchant, like the preceding, the serrae obsolescent with age; the two series of premaxillary teeth closely approximated, the outer protruding and incisorlike; mandible with a pair of conical teeth in front; anal faleate in female, bilobed in male; dorsal rays filamentous in male. 300. MyLeus SeTIGER Miller and Troschel Myleus setiger Miller and Troschel, 1845, Horae Ichth., I and II, 21 and 39, pl. xi, fig. 1; Norman, 1928, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 821, Guianas to Matto Grosso; Fowler, 1939 (1940), Proce. Acad. Nat. Sei. Phila., XCI, 272, one, Contamana. MyleuspacuEKigenmann,1912,Mem.CarnegieMus.,V,394. Guianas to Matto Grosso and Peru Genus 115: PIARCTUS Eigenmann Piarctus Kigenmann, 1903, Smithson. Mise. Coll., XLV, 148; Eigenmann,1910,Rept.PrincetonUniv.Exped.Patagonia,IIT,443. Colosoma Bigenmann, 1915, Ann. Carnegie Mus., [X, 261. Colossoma(inpart)Norman,1928,Proc.Zool.Soc.London,808. Type: Myletes brachypomus Cuvier Orinoco basin to that of La Plata Predorsal spine wanting; anal not scaled, and as long as the head or shorter, first rays highest, fin without lobes. Separated from the nearby Colossoma on the rayed adipose and broad membrane bordering the operculum; gill rakers fine and numerous.
301. PIARCTUS NIGRIPINNIS (Cope) ] Myletes nigripinnis Cope, 1878, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., XVII, 693, Nauta and R. Ambyiacu; Steindachner, 1881, Denksch. IKK. Akad. Wiss. Wien, XLITI, 25, pl. vu, fig. 1; Bigenmann and Higenmann, 1891, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XIV, 61. Colossoma nigripinnis Eigenmann, 1903, Smithson. Mise. Coll., XLV, 148; EKigenmann, 1910, Rept. Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, III, 444; Norman,1928,Proce.Zool.Soe.London,811.
2406) FISHES OF WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA Colosoma (Waiteina) nigripinnis Fowler, 1906 (1907), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., LVIIT. 473, fig.55,PeruvianAmazon.
Piarctus nigripinnis Eigenmann, 1915, Ann. Carnegie Mus., TX, 262, pl. lin; Ahl, 1922, Blaett. Aquar-Terrarienkunde, no. 12, 1, fig. The Amazons 15668,4+,158-227mm.,Iquitos,Allen,September,1920. 15669,1,150mm.,Yarinacocha,Allen,August,1920. Anterior part of adipose with jointed rays; ‘‘inferior part’’ scaly; scales 26, 65 + 6, 21.
Genus 116: COLOSSOMA Eigenmann Colossoma Eigenmann, 1903, Smithson. Mise. Coll., XLV, 148; Eigenmann and Kennedy, 1903, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sei. Phila., LV, 530; Kigenmann, 1910, Rept. Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, II, 444. Colosoma Eigenmann, 1915, Ann. Carnegie Mus., LX, 261, 262. WaiteinaFowler,1906(1907),Proc.Acad.Nat.Sci.Phila.,LVIII,473,forMyletesnegripinnisCope. Reganina Fowler, 1906 (1907), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., LVIIT, 475, for Myletes bidens Agassiz. Type: Myletes oculus Cope The Amazons and La Plata Predorsal spine wanting; mandibular teeth conical; teeth close-set and incisorlike, molar-like, or with oblique cutting edge; premaxillary with each ramus bearing an outer series of five and an inner series of two teeth; abdomen serrated both before and behind ventral fins.
302. CoLOssoMA OcULUS (Cope) Myletes oculus Cope, 1871 (1872), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., XXIII, 268, pl. xii, fig. 2, Rio Ambyiacu, Hauxwell collection.
ColossomaoculusEigenmann,1903,Smithson.Misc.Coll.,XLV,148; Fowler, 1906 (1907), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., LVIII, 472; Kigenmann,1910,Rept.PrincetonUniv.Exped.Patagonia,IIT,444; Norman, 1928, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 811.
Peruvian Amazon Norman differentiates this species from his C. nigripinnis on larger head, fewer gill-rakers, unrayed adipose, and coloration, and considers it possibly the young of that species.
303. COLOSSOMA BIDENS (Agassiz) MyletesbidensAgassiz,1829,Sel.Gen.etSpec.Pisce.Bras.,75,pl.xxx; Giinther, 1864, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., V, 375; Cope, 1871 (1872), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 291, Perkins coll.; Cope, 1878, Proce. Amer. Phil. Soe., XVII, 694, Maranon, Orton coll.; Steindachner, 1881 (1882), Denksch. KIx. Akad. Wiss. Wien, XLIV, 13. Reganina bidens Fowler, 1906 (1907), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sei. Phila., LVI, 475.
ANNOTATED LIST OF THE SPECIES 249 Colossoma bidens Kigenmann, 1910, Rept. Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, III, 444; Norman,1928,Proe.Zool.Soe.London,810.
ColosomabidensEigenmann,1915,Ann.CarnegieMus.,EX,262. The Amazons 15670,2,118and154mm.,Contamana,Allen,August,1920. 15671,2,144and147mm.,Manaos,Allen,December,1920. 15672,3,130-166mm.,Yarinacocha,Allen,August,1920. 15701,3,126-130mm.,LagoCashiboya,Allen,August,1920. 304. COLOSSOMA HERNIARIUM (Cope) Myletes herniarius Cope, (1871), 1872, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., X XIII, 268, pl. xii, fig. 3, R. Ambyiacu,Hauxwellcollection; Cope, 1878, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., X VIII, 693, Peruvian Amazon, Orton collection. ColossomaherniartumEigenmann,1910,Rept.PrincetonUniv.Exped.Patagonia,ITT,444. Starksina herniarius Fowler, 1906 (1907), Proe. Acad. Nat. Sei. Phila., LVIII, 476. MylossomaaureumNorman,1928,Proc.Zool.Soc.London,812; Fowler, 1939 (1940), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., XCI, 271. Peruvian Amazon Genus 117: MYLOSSOMA Eigenmann Mylossoma Eigenmann, 1903, Smithson. Mise. Coll., XLV, 148; Bigenmann and Kennedy, 1903, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sei. Phila., 350; Kigenmann, 1910, Rept. Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, III, 444; Ahl, 1922, Wochen Aquar.-Terrarienkunde, no. 11. MylosomaEFigenmann,1915,Ann.CarnegieMus.,[X,261,265. Starksina Fowler, 1906 (1907), Proce. Acad. Nat. Sei. Phila., LVIII, 476. Type: Myletes albiscopus Cope Orinoco to La Plata Differing from Colossoma in the numerous supplementary scales which may obscure the primary scales; anal scaled at least its proximal half, and its rays increasing toward the last; length of anal base equals or surpasses half the length of the fish without the caudal; operculum with a narrow lobe; gill-rakers of moderate length.
305. MyYLOSSOMA AUREUM (Spix) MyletesaureusSpix,1829,Sel.Gen.etSpec.Pisce.Bras.,74,pl.xxxi. MylossomaaureumEigenmann,1910,Rept.PrincetonUniv.Exped.Patagonia,III,444; Fowler,1939(1940),Proc.Acad.Nat.Sei.Phila.,XCI,271,seven,83-173mm.,Contamana. MylosomaaureumEFigenmann,1915,Ann.CarnegieMus.,IX,265. Orinoco to Ucayali and La Plata 306. MyLOSSOMA DURIVENTRE (Cuvier) Myletes duriventris Cuvier, 1818, Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat., IV, 451, pl. xxii, fig. 2; Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1848, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XXII, 206; Ginther, 1864, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., V, 375;
250 FISHES OF WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA Giinther, 1868, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 229, 247, Xeberos; Cope, 1870, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., XI, 566, Pebas; Steindachner, 1882 (1883), Denksch. Kx. Akad. Wiss. Wien, XLVI, 16, Rio Huallaga, four specimens.
MylossomaduriventrisNorman,1928,Proc.Zool.Soc.London,813; Fowler, 1939 (1940), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., NCI, 272, nine, 65-125 mm., Contamana. Orinoco, upper Amazons, La Plata systems Both Steindachner and Fowler report the local name Palometa for the species; I found the name used for all the thinner members of the subfamily, to which the name Pacu could not be applied.
Fic. 28. The mouth of the Rio Itaya, at Iquitos, looking out into the Amazon. 307. MyLOSSOMA ALBISCOPUM (Cope) Myletes albiscopus Cope, 1871 (1872), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., XXIII, 267, pl. xii, fig. 1, many RioAmbyiacu,Hauxwellcoll.
MylossomaalbiscopusEigenmann,1903,Smithson.Mise.Coll.,XLV,148. MylosomaalbiscopusEKigenmann,1910,Rept.PrincetonUniv.Exped.Patagonia,IT,444. MylossomaduriventrisNorman(inpart),1928,Proc.Zool.Soc.London,813; Fowler (in part), 1939 (1940), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., XCI, 272. Peruvian Amazon 15601,15611,15674,15679,29,103-234mm.,LagoSanango,Allen,November,1920. 15612,1,118mm.,RioMaranon,belowPastaza,Allen,October,1920.
ANNOTATED LIST OF THE SPECIES 251 15673,1,238mm.,RioPachitea,Allen,July,1920. 15675,12,108-195mm.,Iquitos,Allen,September,1920. 15676,1,134mm.,Manaos,Allen,December,1920. 15677,6,70-186mm.,Contamana,Allen,August,1920. 15678, 3, 102-160 mm., R. Ucayali, Orellana, Allen, August, 1920. 15680,15681,21,63-90mm.,LagoCashiboya,Allen,August,1920. 15682,15,65-104mm.,LagoCashiboya,Allen,August,1920. 15913, , Pebas, Steere.
17726,4,76-91mm.,Iquitos,Morris,1922.
15674,2,about225mm.,localityunknown.
The specimens under 15611, eight in number, have the caudal naked, two of the largest, about 185 mm., are female. The two specimens under 15674, about 225 mm., have naked caudal and orange anal fin. Numbers 15673, 15675, 15676 have the caudal scaled. Numbers 15677, 15678, 15680, 15681 have caudal both sealed and naked; 15674 has the anal orange. The younger specimens of this form are darker dorsally, with a faint indication of four or five dark, vertical bands down to or beyond the lateral line. The lighter colored members of the species have originated more frequently in the more turbid waters. The palometas in general are among the migratory species, found among those traveling upstream during rising waters, and spreading over the inundated bottom lands.
Genus 118: MYLOPLUS Gill Myletes (non Cuvier) Miller and Troschel, 1845, Horae Ichth., I, 22; Ginther, 1864, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., V, 372 (part). Myloplus Gill, 1895, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XVIII, 214; Eigenmann,1912,Mem.CarnegieMus.,V,390; Higenmann, 1915, Ann. Carnegie Mus., IX, 262. Myleus (in part) Eigenmann, 1910, Rept. Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, IIT, 448. Type: Myletes asterias Miller and Troschel Orinoco and Guianas to Amazons and Paraguay Belly trenchant and serrate; teeth variable; premaxillaries with two series of teeth, not meeting; mandible with a pair of conical teeth; a procumbent predorsal spine present; gill-rakers short, lanceolate; adipose short, finrays not prolonged individually; dorsal rays 21-81; cheeks mostly naked; anal fin bilobed in male, faleate in female.
308. MyLOPLUS RHOMBOIDALIS (Cuvier) Myletes rhomboidalis Cuvier, 1818, Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat., IV, 449, pl. xxu, fig. 3. Myletes parma Ginther, 1864, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., V, 374. Myleus parma Figenmann, 1910, Rept. Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, III, 443. Myloplusrhomboidalis(inpart)Norman,1928,Proc.Zool.Soc.London,827.
252 FISHES OF WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA Amazon basin Norman has redescribed the species from eight specimens, 60-180 mm., including the types of M. parma.
15751,5,125-158mm.,Manaos,Allen,December,1920.
309. MyLopLus LEvis (Kigenmann and McAtee) Myleus levis Eigenmann, McAtee, and Ward, 1907, Ann. Carnegie Mus., IV, 142, pl. xli, fig. 2; Eigenmann, 1910, Rept. Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, III, 443. Myloplus levis Eigenmann, 1915, Ann. Carnegie Mus., IX, 271; Norman, 1928, Proc. Zool. Soe. London, 825.
The Paraguay and Ucayali rivers 310. MyLopLUS RUBRIPINNIS (Miller and Troschel) Myletes rubripinnis Miller and 'Troschel, 1845, Horae Ichth., I, 38, pl. ix, fig. 3; Ginther, 1864, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., V, 373; Figenmann and Higenmann, 1891, Proce. U.S. Nat. Mus., XIV, 60. Myleus rubripinnis Eigenmann, 1910, Rept. Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, III, 443. Myloplus rubripinnis Figenmann, 1912, Mem. Carnegie Mus., V, 391, pl. lvii, fig. 3, British Guiana; Fowler, 1939 (1940), Proce. Acad. Nat. Sei. Phila., XCI, 273, two, 100 and 103 mm., Contamana.
Guianas and Peruvian Amazon The Myhnae are known to the Peruvians of the Oriental provinces under the names palometa or palometo and paco (pacu of Guiana). The pacos are the wider, more robust, and larger Myleus-type, while the thinner, more silvery, less colorful Metynnis or Mylosoma are the palometo. I found the latter group migrating in enormous numbers with the Prochilodus and Leporinus types, during the rising stages of the rivers. They were so abundant and so readily available in quantity with the throw-net, that they were the prime favorites for drying during the late dry season, despite the limited flesh. In this form they are a staple food for the rainy season when fishing becomes more difficult. The wrist-watch thinness and bony character of such fishes is cheerfully accepted by the Loretans by reason of abundance and the sweet flesh. With but little dressing they are thrown into stew pan or kettle entire, including heads and many scales, and cooked with rice or green plantains. They form a part of the luggage of many a traveler, together with the rice, beans, salt, etc., and a bunch of the plantains thrown on top the cargo. The thin and hatchet-like contours of the Chalcinus forms, carried further in the shorter Gasteropelecus, is emphasized still further in the Mylinae. Like the others named, they do a great deal of leaping from the water, especially at nightfall, describing a peculiar are through the air, and cleaving the water again with hardly a ripple, hatchet-edge-foremost. This activity is as much a part of the palometo as its body, and they may readily be identified by it, even at some distance.