Tambaqui Colossoma macropomum
The vegetarian piranha.
The tambaqui is a fresh water fish that belongs to the family of true piranhas.
The tambaqui in a nutshell
- eats
- aquatic plants, nuts, seeds and fruits
- inhabits
- South America
- excels at
- a vegetarian diet
Young tambaqui are similar in shape to the well-known carnivorous piranha, but adults are rounder and broader. The scientific name – Colossoma macropomum – refers to the body shape, with ‘kolos’ meaning ‘short’ and ‘soma’ meaning ‘body’.
Fruit-eater
Unlike the carnivorous piranha, the tambaqui has a primarily vegetarian diet. This fish species loves hard nuts, aquatic plants and fruits or seeds. The seeds remain intact in the tambaqui’s stomach and are sometimes excreted a long way away, making the fish an important seed disperser in the ecosystem.
Failed experiment
An experiment in Papua New Guinea inadvertently proved that the tambaqui does belong to the piranha family. Scientists thought the tambaqui could provide an important addition to the diet of the population, reasoning that there were too few fish in the local rivers and the tambaqui, being herbivores, would not pose a threat to them. However, having eaten all of the vegetation, the tambaqui switched to eating the remaining small native fish.
The tambaqui has been adopted by Nijssen.