Eigenmann: The Serrasalmin.ij and Mylin.^. 231 



Roosevelt, in the account of his recent travels, tells of the voracity 

 and depredations of the piranhas of the Paraguay. He says of 

 Rooseveltiella nattereri: 



At Concepcion . . . "We caught many fish. 



"They belonged to one of the most formidable genera of fish in the 

 world, the piranha or cannibal fish, the fish that eats men when it 

 can get the chance. Farther north there are species of small piranha 

 that go in schools. At this point on the Paraguay the piranha do 

 not seem to go in regular schools, but they swarm in all the waters 

 and attain a length of 1 8 inches or over. They are the most ferocious 

 fish in the world. Even the most formidable fish, the sharks, or the 

 barracudas, usually attack things smaller than themselves. But 

 the piranhas habitually attack things much larger than themselves. 

 They will snap a finger ofif a hand incautiously trailed in the water; 

 they mutilate swimmers — in every river town in Paraguay there are 

 men who have been thus mutilated; they will rend and devour alive 

 any wounded man or beast; for blood in the water excites them to 

 madness. They will tear wounded wild fowl to pieces; and bite off 

 the tails of big fish as they grow exhausted when fighting after being 

 hooked. Miller, before I reached Asuncion, had been badly bitten 

 by one. Those that we caught sometimes bit through the hooks, 

 or the double strands of copper wire that served as leaders, and got 

 away. Those that we hauled on deck lived for many minutes. 



" Most predatory fish are long and slim, like the alligator and 

 pickerel. But the piranha is a short, deep-bodied fish, with a blunt 

 face and a heavily undershot or projecting lower jaw which gapes 

 widely. The razor-edged teeth are wedge-shaped like a shark's, 

 and the jaw muscles possess great power. The rabid, furious snaps 

 drive the teeth through flesh and bone. The head with its short 

 muzzle, staring malignant eyes, and gaping, cruelly armed jaws, is 

 the embodiment of evil ferocity; and the actions of the fish exactly 

 match its looks. 



"I never witnessed an exhibition of such impotent, savage fury as 

 was shown by the piranhas as they flapped on deck. When fresh 

 from the water and thrown on the boards they uttered an extra- 

 ordinary squealing sound. As they flapped about they hit with vicious 

 eagerness at whatever presented itself. One of them flapped into a 

 cloth and seized it with a bulldog grip. Another grasped one of 

 its fellows; another snapped at a piece of wood, and left the teeth- 



