Piranha Saicanga

Serrasalmus hollandi

Reinhardt in Lutken, 1874

INTRODUCTION

Questionable species, though the name is scientifically valid at this time. S. hollandi was described from the Rio Guapore. The species was compared by M. Jégu & Dos Santos (2001) with S. eigenmanni and S. aureus. The species name remains valid as of this date, though the holotype is lost. A number of fishes imported into the hobby are not S. hollandi but some other species, namely S. eigenmanni, a similar appearing widespread species. The fish on the left (bottom) is the holotype image of S. hollandi while the image at the top left resembles a live S. hollandi from Rio Guapore. This photo appears in The Piranha Book edited by G.S. Meyers (1972). The image on the bottom right, is a specimen collected from Pando, Bolivia and is cataloged as S. hollandi.

Photo on left, Holotype; Next photo (captioned as S. calmoni), a species appearing similar to S. hollandi? The Piranha Book, G. S. Myers, page 84. Map of geographical locality range. Photo on far right, juvenile specimen believed by authority to be S. hollandi (Bolivia).

The species is based on a single specimen described. Holland's piranha is rhomboid with a prominent humeral spot on the flank. The species is heavily spotted, but spotting diminishes midway to the belly area. The caudal fin edging is hyaline and a very dark blotch in a form of a "V" is prominent on the hypural margin extending out. The holotype image (see top) provided to OPEFE by Dr. Antonio Machado is of an S. hollandi at approximately 109 mm SL. According to Dr. William L. Fink he has many species cataloged as S. hollandi by South American collectors, majority are S. rhombeus juvenile forms. 

The species collected from southern Brazil and Bolivia as S. hollandi are believed by some authorities to be  S. (Pristobrycon) eigenmanni a similar appearing species. In my own experience with seeing hundreds of these imported into the aquarium trade, the fish being purchased as S. hollandi are often times, S. sanchezi juvenile forms from Peru. Other forms being imported as S. hollandi appear to be a juvenile form of S. compressus another wide-spread species. The imported species also present the terminal caudal band, except S. sanchezi, depending on locality may exhibit a near hyaline tail band giving the appearance of having only a dark "V".

Hobbyists are cautioned against purchasing any species of piranha being sold as S. hollandi as questionable at the present time.

DESCRIPTION

The map to the left, shows a portion of the range S. hollandi. Serrasalmo hollandi (Eigenmann, Ann. Carnegie Mus. ix. 1915, p. 251, pl. XIVIII. Depth of body 2 1/6 in the length, length of head about 3 1/3. Upper profile a little concave above eyes. Snout a little shorter than eye, diameter of which is a little more than 3½ in length of head; interorbital width 2 3/5. Second suborbital of moderate width, separate from angle of pre-operculum by a space equal to nearly ½ diameter of eye. Lower jaw is projecting; palatines with 5 well-developed teeth. Ventral serrae 37 (25+ 12?). Dorsal II 14; origin about equidistant from end of snout and base of caudal; length of base 3 3/5 in depth of body, nearly 1 2/3 in distance from upper caudal fulcra. Adipose fin not rayed, base about 4, its distance from rayed dorsal a little less than base of that fin. Anal III 29; length of base 3 1/4 in that of body, 13/5 in depth of body. Pectoral about 1 3\5 in head. Origin of pelvics nearer last anal ray than tip of lower jaw. Upper parts of body with round dark spots; a dark blotch on the shoulder; basal part of caudal dark. Hab. Rio Guaporé. Total length 130 mm (5 inches TL).

REPORTED SIZE

18.5 cm SL (7 1/4 inches SL) or approximately 9 inches TL

DISTRIBUTION

Madeira R. basin and ? Guyana rivers: Brazil and Guiana (?).

REFERENCES 

1. Eigenmann, C. H.   1915 (Mar.) The Serrasalminae and Mylinae. Ann. Carnegie Mus. v. 9 (nos. 3-4): 226-272, Pls. 44-58.

2. Henn, A. W.   1928 (Sept.) List of types of fishes in the collection of the Carnegie Museum on September 1, 1928. Ann. Carnegie Mus. v. 19 (art. 4): 51-99.

3. Ibarra, M. and D. J. Stewart   1987 (30 Sept.) Catalogue of type specimens of Recent fishes in Field Museum of Natural History. Fieldiana Zool. (N. S.) No. 35: 1-112.

4. Lasso, C. A., V. Castelló Canales-Tilve, T., and J. Cabot-Nieves   2001 Contribución al conocimiento de la ictiofauna del Río Paraguá, cuenca del Río Itenzen o Guaporé, Amazonía Boliviana. Memoria, Fund. La Salle Cien. Nat. vol. 59 (no. 152): 89-103.

5. Jégu, M. and G. M. dos Santos   2001 Mise au point à propos de Serrasalmus spilopleura Kner, 1858 et réhabilitation de S. maculatus Kner, 1858 (Characidae: Serrasalminae). Cybium v. 25 (no. 2): 119-143.

6. Géry, J., 1977 Characoids of the world. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., N.J. 672 p.

7. Hureau, J.-C., 1991 La base de données GICIM: Gestion informatisée des collections ichthyologiques du Muséum. p. 225-227. In Atlas Preliminaire des Poissons d'Eaux Douce de France. Conseil Supérieur de la Pêche, Ministère de l'Environment, CEMAGREF et Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

8. Eschmeyer, W.N., Editor, 1998 Catalog of fishes. Special Publication, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 3 vols. 2905 p.

9. Muramoto, J., S. Ohno and N.B. Atkin, 1968 On the diploid state of the fish order Ostariophysi. Chromosoma 24(1):59-66.

10. Klinkhardt, M, M. Tesche and H. Greven, 1995 Database of fish chromosomes. Westarp Wissenschaften.

11. Anon., 2000 The icthyological collection of the Zoological Museum Hamburg (ZMH). Division of Icthyology and Herpetology, Zoological Museum Hamburg (ZMH)

12. Jégu, M., 2003 Serrasalminae (Pacus and piranhas). p. 182-196. In: R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, Brasil.

13. Varjo, M., L. Koli and H. Dahlström, 2004 Kalannimiluettelo (versio 10/03). Suomen Biologian Seura Vanamo Ry

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UPDATED: 08/11/2007