It is a constituent of sucrose, of raffinose, and of the polysaccharide inulin, from which it may be obtained by hydrolysis.
Habitat Preference. Piranhas are native to the central and southern river systems of South America, where they inhabit tropical rivers and streams and are often found in murky water. When collected in the United States they have been found in ponds, lakes, rivers, and borrow pits.iranhas are aggressive predators that lurk in vegetation and ambush and chase prey. Their diet consists mostly of insects, mollusks, crustaceans, worms, small fish, and some plant matter, but they often feed in large groups to kill larger prey like capybaras. Piranhas have few predators in the wild except man.
Aquarium piranhas have been unsuccessfully introduced into parts of the United States. In many cases, however, reported captures of piranhas are misidentifications of pacu (e.g., red-bellied pacu Piaractus brachypomus is frequently misidentified as red-bellied piranha Pygocentrus nattereri).iranhas belong to the subfamily Serrasalminae, which includes closely related omnivorous fish such as pacus. Traditionally, only the four genera Pristobrycon, Pygocentrus, Pygopristis, and Serrasalmus are considered to be true piranhas, due to their specialized teeth.