Pygopristis

{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = Aquarium tropical du Palais de la Porte Dorée - Pygopristis denticulata (cropped).jpg | image2 = Lepidophagous fish (cropped).jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name = iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Brejão, G.L. |year=2024 |title=''Pygopristis denticulata'' |article-number=e.T164537816A164537834 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T164537816A164537834.en |access-date=22 May 2025}}</ref> | parent_authority = J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1844 | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Pygopristis denticulata | authority = (Cuvier, 1819) | synonyms = {{Specieslist | Serrasalmus denticulatus | Cuvier, 1819 | Serrasalmus punctatus | Jardine, 1841 | Pygopristis fumarius | J. Müller & Troschel, 1844 | Pygopristis serrulatus | Valenciennes, 1850 | Serrasalmus serrulatus | (Valenciennes, 1850) }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = "Cof genus">{{Cof genus|genus=Pygopristis|access-date=20 July 2025}}</ref> }}

'''''Pygopristis''''' is a monospecific genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Serrasalmidae, which includes the pacus, piranhas and related fishes.. The only species in the genus is '''''Pygopristis denticulata''''', also known as the '''lobetoothed piranha''',.<ref name=Fink>{{Cite journal|last=Fink|first=William L.|date=1989-01-01|title=Ontogeny and phylogeny of shape and diet in the South American fishes called piranhas |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016699589800178|journal=Geobios|series=Ontogenèse Et Évolution|language=en|volume=22|pages=167–172|doi=10.1016/S0016-6995(89)80017-8|bibcode=1989Geobi..22..167F |issn=0016-6995|url-access=subscription}}</ref> This species is a rare South American characiform fish found in the Orinoco River basin, rivers of the northern and eastern Guiana Shield, and tributaries of the lower Amazon River.<ref name=fishbase/> Like other piranhas, it is found in freshwater,<ref name="Fink" /> with specimens of this species typically found in acidic clearwater or blackwater environments. Despite their ferocious reputation, many piranhas have broader diets;<ref name="Fink" /> this species feeds on the scales of other fish as juveniles,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kolmann |first1=Matthew A. |last2=Huie |first2=Jonathan M. |last3=Evans |first3=Kory |last4=Summers |first4=Adam P. |date=January 2018 |title=Specialized specialists and the narrow niche fallacy: a tale of scale-feeding fishes |journal=Royal Society Open Science |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |article-number=171581 |doi=10.1098/rsos.171581 |doi-access=free|issn=2054-5703 |pmc=5792939 |pmid=29410862}}</ref> but transitions to a broader diet of aquatic insects, small fish, and fruits as adults.<ref>{{cite book|author=Machado-Allison, A. |author2= W. Fink |year=1996|title=Los Peces Caribes de Venezuela. Diagnosis, claves, aspectos ecológicos y evolutivos |publisher=Universidad Central de Venezuela, CDCV|series=(Colección Monografías)|location= Caracas|isbn=980-00-0967-1}}</ref>

== Biology == ''P. denticulata'' grows to about {{cvt|20|cm}} in total length.<ref name="fishbase">{{FishBase|genus=Pygopristis|species=denticulata|year=2007|month=July}}</ref> It has 62 chromosomes.<ref name="Freeman" />''P. denticulata'' has pentacuspid teeth and a middle cusp that is usually only slightly larger than the other cusps. This is unlike other piranhas, which have tricuspid teeth with a larger middle cusp, making the teeth appear triangular.<ref name="Freeman">{{cite journal|url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/zt01484p038.pdf|title=Molecular systematics of Serrasalmidae: Deciphering the identities of piranha species and unraveling their evolutionary histories|first=Barbie|last=Freeman|author2=Nico, Leo G. |author3=Osentoski, Matthew |author4=Jelks, Howard L. |author5= Collins, Timothy M. |journal=Zootaxa|volume=1484|pages=1–38|year=2007|doi=10.1046/j.1439-0469.2000.384132.x}}</ref>

== Taxonomy == Within the family Serrasalmidae, ''P. denticulata'' is more closely related to ''Catoprion'' than it is to the majority of species traditionally considered true piranhas.<ref name="Freeman" />

== Gallery == <gallery mode="packed"> File:Pygopristis denticulata.jpg|Juvenile File:FMIB 52277 Dentition of Pygopristis denticulatus (Cuvier).jpeg|Dentition </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Serrasalminae Category:Piranhas Category:Monotypic fish genera Category:Freshwater fish of Brazil Category:Fish described in 1819 Category:Taxa named by Georges Cuvier Category:Taxa named by Johannes Peter Müller Category:Taxa named by Franz Hermann Troschel