{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Piaractus in Sendai Aquarium.jpg | image_caption = ''Piaractus'' sp. | taxon = Piaractus | authority = C. H. Eigenmann, 1903 | type_species = ''Myletes brachypomus'' | type_species_authority = G. Cuvier, 1817 }}
'''''Piaractus''''' is a genus of large serrasalmid from South America,<ref name=fishbase>{{FishBase genus | genus = Piaractus| month = April | year = 2013}}</ref> and one of several genera colloquially referred to as "pacu". Species in this genus are commonly called '''pirapatinga'''.
The two traditionally recognized species of ''Piaractus'' are very similar in appearance and were formerly included in the genus ''Colossoma'', which currently only contains another similar species, the tambaqui (''Colossoma macropomum'').<ref>{{cite web|website=OPEFE |date=27 December 2011|url=https://www.opefe.com/piaractus.html |title=genus ''Piaractus''|access-date= 2 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Nico2013">{{cite web|author=Nico, L.|author2= P. Fuller|author3= M. Neilson |date=22 October 2013|url=https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=427 |title=''Piaractus brachypomus'' |website=USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database |location=Gainesville, FL|access-date= 2 March 2017}}</ref> A third ''Piaractus'' was described in 2019 as a new species, which was formerly considered a subpopulation of ''P. brachypomus''.<ref name="Escobar2019">{{cite journal|author=Escobar, M.D.|author2= R.P. Ota|author3= A. Machado-Allison|author4= I.P. Farias |author5= T. Hrbek |date=August 2019|title= A new species of ''Piaractus'' (Characiformes: Serrasalmidae) from the Orinoco Basin with a redescription of ''Piaractus brachypomus''|journal= Journal of Fish Biology|volume=95|issue=2|pages=411–427|doi=10.1111/jfb.13990|pmid= 31017302|bibcode= 2019JFBio..95..411E}}</ref>
==Species== There are currently three recognized species in this genus:<ref name=fishbase/><ref name=Escobar2019/><ref>{{Cof genus |genus=Piaractus |access-date=5 July 2019}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |+ !Species !Common name !Distribution |- |''Piaractus brachypomus'' <small>(G. Cuvier, 1818)</small> |red-bellied pacu |Amazon basin |- |''Piaractus mesopotamicus'' <small>(Holmberg, 1887)</small> |small-scaled pacu, Paraná River pacu |Paraguay-Paraná basin |- |''Piaractus orinoquensis'' <small>Escobar et al., 2019</small> |Venezuelan pacu |Orinoco basin |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q147161}}
Category:Colossomatinae Category:Piaractus Category:Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann Category:Fish of South America Category:Actinopterygii genera
{{Characiformes-stub}}