Pygopristis

{{Short description|Species of fish}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Aquarium tropical du Palais de la Porte Dorée - Pygopristis denticulata (cropped).jpg

| image2 = Lepidophagous fish (cropped).jpg

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Brejão, G.L. |year=2024 |title=Pygopristis denticulata |volume=2024 |page=e.T164537816A164537834 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T164537816A164537834.en |access-date=22 May 2025}}

| parent_authority = J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1844

| display_parents = 2

| taxon = Pygopristis denticulata

| authority = (G. Cuvier, 1819)

| synonyms = *Serrasalmus denticulatus
G. Cuvier, 1819

• Serrasalmus punctatus
  Jardine, 1841
• Pygopristis fumarius
  J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1845

}}

Pygopristis denticulata, also known as the lobetoothed piranha, is a species of piranha.{{Cite journal|last=Fink|first=William L.|date=1989-01-01|title=Ontogeny and phylogeny of shape and diet in the South American fishes called piranhas |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016699589800178|journal=Geobios|series=Ontogenèse Et Évolution|language=en|volume=22|pages=167–172|doi=10.1016/S0016-6995(89)80017-8|bibcode=1989Geobi..22..167F |issn=0016-6995}} It is a rare South American characiform fish found in the Orinoco River basin, rivers of the northern and eastern Guiana Shield, and tributaries of the lower Amazon River. Like other piranhas, it is found in freshwater, with specimens of this species typically found in acidic clearwater or blackwater environments. Despite their ferocious reputation, many piranhas have broader diets; this species feeds on the scales of other fish as juveniles,{{Cite journal |last1=Kolmann |first1=Matthew A. |last2=Huie |first2=Jonathan M. |last3=Evans |first3=Kory |last4=Summers |first4=Adam P. |date=January 2018 |title=Specialized specialists and the narrow niche fallacy: a tale of scale-feeding fishes |journal=Royal Society Open Science |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=171581 |doi=10.1098/rsos.171581 |issn=2054-5703 |pmc=5792939 |pmid=29410862}} but transitions to a broader diet of aquatic insects, small fish, and fruits as adults.{{cite book|author=Machado-Allison, A. |author2= W. Fink |year=1996|title=Los Peces Caribes de Venezuela. Diagnosis, claves, aspectos ecológicos y evolutivos |publisher=Universidad Central de Venezuela, CDCV|series=(Colección Monografías)|location= Caracas|isbn=980-00-0967-1}}