CreatureData

Cachama

Piaractus brachypomus (Cuvier, 1818)

Status not recordedbony fish

The cachama (Piaractus brachypomus) is a species in the family Serrasalmidae, order Characiformes.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the cachama

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the cachama live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the cachama as introduced in 19 countries, and flagged as invasive in 5 of them.

  1. Indiainvasive
  2. Mexicoinvasive
  3. Papua New Guineainvasive
  4. Philippinesinvasive
  5. Polandinvasive
  6. Bolivia
  7. Brunei
  8. Cambodia
  9. China
  10. Croatia
  11. Cuba
  12. Indonesia
  13. Malaysia
  14. Montenegro
  15. Myanmar (Burma)
  16. Panama
  17. Peru
  18. Singapore
  19. Vietnam

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the cachama endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the cachama classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classTeleostei
  4. orderCharaciformes
  5. familySerrasalmidae
  6. genusPiaractus
  7. SpeciesPiaractus brachypomus (Cuvier, 1818)

Synonyms Colossoma bidens, Colossoma brachypomum, Colossoma branchypomus, Colossoma paco, Myletes bidens, Myletes brachypomus, Myletes paco, Piaractus brachipomus, Piaractus briachypumus, Reganina bidens, Salmo pacu, Wateina fowleri

Other names and names in other languages (31)
  • Freshwater pompanoEnglish
  • Red-bellied pacuEnglish
  • Redbelly pacuEnglish
  • 短盖巨脂鲤Chinese
  • piraňa plodožraváCzech
  • SølvpacuDanish
  • RiesenpacuGerman
  • PacoSpanish
  • PirapatingaEstonian
  • PakuFinnish
  • Bawal Air TawarIndonesian
  • Yae cho nga moatBurmese
  • PacuPortuguese
  • Красный пакуRussian
  • ปลาคู้แดงThai
  • 銀板Chinese
  • 短蓋巨脂鯉Chinese
  • 雙齒巨脂鯉Chinese
  • 短盖肥脂鲤(淡水白鲳)Chinese
  • 短蓋肥脂鯉(淡水白鯧)Chinese
  • Gamitana-ScheibensalmlerGerman
  • Cachama blancaSpanish
  • MorocotoSpanish
  • PaccuSpanish
  • PunapakuFinnish
  • CaranhaPortuguese
  • PacúPortuguese
  • Pacu-caranhaPortuguese
  • PirapitingaPortuguese
  • TambaquiPortuguese
  • ปลาจะละเม็ดน้ำจืดThai

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the cachama

Other species in the same genus Piaractus.

Paraná pacu

Piaractus mesopotamicus

SerrasalmidaeNo free photo yet

CompareCachama vs Paraná pacuCachama vs Venezuelan pacu

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the cachama an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the cachama as invasive in 5 countries: India, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Poland. It lists it as introduced in 19 in all.

What kind of animal is the cachama?

The cachama (Piaractus brachypomus) belongs to the family Serrasalmidae in the order Characiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Cachama (Piaractus brachypomus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/piaractus-brachypomus

MLA

“Cachama (Piaractus brachypomus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/piaractus-brachypomus.

BibTeX
@misc{piaractus_brachypomus_2026,
  title = {Cachama (Piaractus brachypomus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/piaractus-brachypomus},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}