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Location: Pygocentrus nattereri
Discussion: P.Nattereri cont'd
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savageserrasalmus69 |
P.Nattereri cont'd
Aug 18 2010, 6:58 AM EDT
There is some debate as to whether the Pygocentrus genus actually does contain only three species, as there are several other contenders for membership. The first of these, Pygocentrus palometa, was first described by the ichthyologist A. Valenciennes in 1849. It is listed as occurring in the lower Rio Orinoco, Venezuela but little further information is available. Although the scientific name is still listed as valid, it is highly likely that this P. palometa is actually a synonym of Myleus schomburgkii, a member of the silver dollar family. The second species, held by many to be a valid Pygocentrus, is P. ternetzi. This issue is yet to be settled conclusively but current scientific thinking classes this fish as a yellow color form of P. nattereri. Finally, some ichthyologists believe that species most commonly sold as the red belly is in fact a species known as P. altus and that the true P. nattereri species is never exported from what is believed to be its relatively small geographic range. This theory has not found a great deal of acceptance amongst piranha enthusiasts, with most believing that P. altus is simply a junior synonym of P. nattereri. In any event, these misunderstandings highlight the need for further study of this group of fish. Do you find this valuable?
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Red Belly
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tdoulos |
1. RE: P.Nattereri cont'd
Sep 4 2010, 11:24 PM EDT
It's very difficult to understand all of the classifications of piranha, there are a lot of studies that still need to be done.
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