In the piranha world, there may be larger ones -which I doubt, more aggressive ones- maybe the black, least understood or studied - definitely, but there is unequivocally the most strikingly beautiful and majestic of all piranhas, the Serrasalmus Piraya. With unmatching brilliant orange underside and those famous tufted rayed antipose fins that are unique only to this piranha species, the S.Piraya is the majestic king of piranhas in size (20 to 24 in,) beauty ( you have to see one) and authority ( it is a schooling fish and will almost always be the dominent fish among other piranha neighbours.) Forget all those published pictures of the piraya in all those six piranha books. Most if all were of the red piranha and if any were genuine, they belied the true magnificient beauty of a truely awesome looking fish that swims around with a majestic dignity sofar unseen in other piranhas. This fish at various stages of growth, has beautiful vertical orange/yellow bands and a slightly larger head than that of the red piranha. It is referred to as one of the three trulely dangerous piranhas by earlier piranha books. It is extremely rare in North America where as far as I know, none has been reported to exist public or privately. For all the reasons above, it is to me the piranha that should be crowned "emperor."

WAYNE MAH
LAW LIBRARY
OSGOODE HALL LAW SCHOOL,
YORK UNIVERSITY, 4700 KEELE ST.
NORTH YORK ONTARIO. M3J 1P3