The piranha is a much-maligned fish. Most people think that this is a deadly creature that swarms through rivers and creeks of the Amazon rainforest looking for victims to tear apart. And woe betide anyone unlucky enough to be in the same water as a shoal of piranhas. It takes only a few minutes for the vicious piranhas to reduce someone to a mere skeleton. The truth is that the piranha is really a much more nuanced animal than the mindless killer depicted in the media. In fact, piranhas are a group made up of approximately twelve different species. Each piranha species occupies its own ecological niche. One type of piranha takes chunks out of the fins of other fish. Another type eats fruit falling from trees into the river. Each piranha species plays a unique role in the ecology of the rainforest floodplains. So what should you do next time you hear someone talking about the “deadly piranha”? You can remind them that the piranha is not always the notorious killer fish that the tough, muscular heroes of popular nature television shows would have us believe.