Wimple-piranha
The wimple-piranha, scientifically known as Catoprion mento, is a freshwater fish native to the streams and lakes of South America. Although they share the name "piranha," wimple-piranhas are less aggressive than their more infamous relatives. They typically grow to about 6.5 inches (15 centimeters) and exhibit a grayish-blue-green coloration with a pinkish belly, accompanied by distinctive protruding lower jaws that give them an under-bite appearance. Wimple-piranhas are carnivorous, feeding primarily on smaller fish and insects, and are particularly known for their behavior of scraping scales off other fish using their lower jaws.
These fish thrive in groups known as schools or shoals, utilizing their various fins for balance and propulsion in the water. Wimple-piranhas breathe by extracting oxygen from the water through their gills. Their reproductive cycle occurs in the spring and summer when females release hundreds of eggs for the males to fertilize, leading to the hatching of young fish that join the school. While the lifespan of wimple-piranhas is not precisely known, it may average around 10 years, similar to other piranha species. Currently, the wimple-piranha is not considered a threatened species, indicating a stable population in their native habitat.
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Wimple-piranha
The wimple-piranha is native to the freshwater streams and lakes of South America. Although wimple-piranhas are not nearly as vicious a predator as their cousins the piranhas, they were given the name piranha for their habit of biting scales from other fish. Wimple-piranhas belong to the genera of characins known as Catoprion.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Family: Characidae
Genus: Catoprion
Species: Catoprion Mento
Wimple-piranhas are similar in appearance to piranhas. They grow to be about 6 1/2 inches (15 centimeters) long. They are also a grayish, blue-green color with a pinkish belly much like many piranhas. Wimple-piranhas also have protruding lower jaws, which extend forward, giving them the appearance of an under-bite.
Like other characins, wimple-piranhas need oxygen to survive. Since they do not have lungs and cannot process oxygen from the air like humans, wimple-piranhas have to find the oxygen they need from the water in which they live. Wimple-piranhas take water in their mouths, keep the oxygen they need, and breathe out what they do not use through the gills on the sides of their bodies.
Wimple-piranhas inhabit many of the freshwater streams and rivers of South America. Like many other characins, they travel in large groups called schools or shoals.
Wimple-piranhas use their many fins to help them move through the water. Their dorsal and anal, or back and belly, fins work together to help them stay balanced in the water, while their caudal, or tail, fins move from side to side propelling them through the water. Along the sides of their bodies, wimple-piranhas have pectoral, or side, fins which paddle back and forth to help them steer and move through the water.
As carnivorous, or meat-eating, fish, wimple-piranhas live on a diet of smaller fish and insects. They are known for their habit of biting off the scales of other fish. They scrape these scales off by dragging their lower jaws along the bodies of other fish.
Wimple-piranhas, like piranhas, mate in the spring and summer. Female wimple-piranhas swim through the water releasing hundreds of eggs as they go. The males fertilize these eggs by swimming over them and releasing their sperm, or cells which fertilize eggs. This is called spawning. The fertilized eggs grow and develop until the young hatch free from the eggs and join the school of wimple-piranhas.
The life span of wimple-piranhas is unknown but it may average 10 years like other piranhas. The wimple-piranha is not a threatened species.
Bibliography
“Catoprion Mento (Wimpel Piranha).” Seriously Fish, 2024, www.seriouslyfish.com/species/catoprion-mento. Accessed 17 Mar 2024.
“Catoprion Mento Wimple Piranha.” Animal Diversity Web, 3 June 2009, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Catoprion‗mento/classification. Accessed 17 Mar. 2024.
Magallanes, Frank. “Genus Catoprion Mento.” OPEFE.com, 6 Dec. 2015, opefe.com/genusCatoprion.html. Accessed 17 Mar. 2024.