Pristobrycon calmoni is a species of fish of the subfamily Serrasalminae which includes the "caribes" or "piranha

Piranha

A piranha or piraña is a member of family Characidae in order Characiformes, an omnivorous freshwater fish that inhabits South American rivers. In Venezuela, they are called caribes...

s".

Habitat

Habits mainly in black or acidic waters and turbid waters in tributaries and main channel of the middle and low Orinoco. River.

Description

This is a small and beautiful fish. Body discoid with the anterodorsal profile slightly curved in a "S" shape. Head robust and wide. Snout blunt. Preanal spine present. Adipose fin wide. Head silver with methalic orange to red at mandibular and opercular regions. Iris yellow. Body with greenish laterally and mixture of orange and red at the abdominal area. Body not covered with round or oval black spots. A single spot behind the opercular area above the pectoral fin. Fins pale except the anal that have the basal rays and membranes yellow or orange and the distal area black. Acaudal fin with a terminal black band.

Behaviour

Predatory fish. Consuming smaller fish and attacking fins, juveniles include aquatic insects and crustacean

Crustacean

Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...

s (shrimps). Occasionally included fruits from the surrounding gallery forest. This is a solitary species. Never seen in schools.

Comments

Some authors recognize two subespecies: Pristobrycon calmoni calmoni for the Amazonas (Brazil) and Pristobrycon calmoni bilineatus present in Venezuela and Guianas. The holotype probably is lost.