The movie Jaws was so frightening that many people who saw the film swore off swimming in the ocean. Consequently, when most people think of fearsome sea creatures, sharks come immediately to mind. Less well remembered is the movie Piranha , a Jaws knock-off that featured deadly tropical fish terrorizing a small-town river. But while Piranha the movie may have been toothless, in real life its featured predators put sharks and all other aquatic creatures to shame when it comes to underwater ferocity. Piranha are native to South American freshwater rivers. Although legends abound about their eating prowess, most of the twenty species of piranha are actually vegetarian. They are flat, oval-shaped fish that grow from ten to approximately twenty-four inches in length.