Black spot piranha and red-bellied pacu

Ichthyological study of two freshwater fish native to South America, including the black spot piranha and red-bellied pacu.

Figure 1. The black spot piranha, Pygocentrus cariba Humboldt, here styled L’Umati ou le Poisson Caribe de l’Orénoque and Serra-salmo cariba Humboldt. Shown in left profile at a scale of 3/4 of the natural size. Found in the Orinoco River basins lowlands and the Llanis region in Venezuela and Colombia, South America.

Figure 2. The red-bellied pacu, Piaractus brachypomus Cuvier, here styled le Paco de l’Amazone ou Haut-Maragnon and Myletes paco Humboldt. Shown in left profile at a scale of 1/4 of the natural size with a further illustration of the jaws and teeth. Found in the Amazon and Orinoco River basins, South America.

Inscribed ‘Pl. XLVII Dessiné par Huet, d’aprés des esquisses de Mr. de Humboldt. Gravé par Coutant. De l’Imprimerie de Langlois’, with an explanation to the plates on page 216 including the contemporary taxonomy ‘Pl. XLVII, fig. 1. Serra-salmo Cariba (p.173). Fig. 2. Myletes Paco (p.175).

Plate XLVII to Recherches sur Les Poissons Fluviatiles de L’Amérique Équinoxiale; par MM. De Humboldt et Valenciennes. Recueil d’Observations de zoologie et d’Anatomie compare, faites… Par al. de Humboldt et A. Bonpland, volume 2 (Paris, 1811-1833).

Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) German naturalist and traveller, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1815.

Achille Valenciennes (1794-1865) French zoologist.