I first became interested in true piranhas in 1957. Prior to the 1960's few people outside of science circles hardly knew what a piranha was. The few that did only assumed the animal was a man-eater similar to sharks, but would attack in large numbers and turn you into a skeleton in moments if you dared enter its waters. Further, most uninformed people (myself included) assumed the fish was from Africa based on the old Tarzan movies of the 1930's that aired in the 1950's