Silverlit PIRANHA Dissect IT Synthetic Dissection Kit Instruction Manual

Silverlit PIRANHA Dissect IT Synthetic Dissection Kit

Contains

The Anatomy

1. SKULL – Snaps onto 1.
2. HEART, KIDNEY AND STOMACH – Snaps onto 1, 3 and 5.
3. LIVER AND INTESTINE – Snaps onto 2.
4. RIBS – Snaps onto 5.
5. SPINE – Snaps onto 1, 2 and 4.

Getting Started

Your piranha is ready to dissect right out of the box. Simply remove the piranha from the mold and place it with the belly facing up on to the dissecting table (see figure below).

Keep the piranha mold in a safe place. You will need it for molding future piranhas.

First Cut
Now that you have laid out your piranha like the figure above you can use your provided scalpel and probe to cut away sections of the skin to reveal the internal organs and skeleton of your piranha. Usually the first cut should be in the middle of the ventral side (underside) of the piranha beginning just below (posterior) the back of the jaw line all the way to the tail (caudal) end of the piranha. Side incision may be made to the side of the central (midline) incision toward each side (distally) to allow a flap of skin to be laid back to expose the position and location of the internal organs.
We recommend reading the manual as you dissect your piranha so you can learn about exciting facts about piranha anatomy.

The Organs

Here are the major organs of the piranha which you will explore in your “dissection”.

Skin
When you cut through the artificial skin of the Piranha Fish, you will find it very similar to a real one. Piranha skin is very thin and covered by circular colorful scales. Fish skin is an external protective surface. It acts as a cover that separates its soft organs from the external environment.
Skin and scales together have a lot of vital functions. Many species use it to take oxygen from water directly, mainly when the fish are young. They also help the fish to feel any movement in the surround-ing water. So fish can know the direction and strength of current. Also by the help of skin and scales, fish can feel the motion of a prey; guess the location of an obstacle or predator; and keep going with their groups.
The beautiful circular scale has an unusual shape and buildup that gives the Piranha fish high flexibility. Scales are bright and mirror like to help it hide from predators.

Skeletal System
Fish are vertebrates, so they have a skeleton that includes a spine and a skull. A skeleton shapes supports and protects the soft parts of the fish’s body, such as the organs and muscles. Fins and tail are a part of fish’s skeleton that grows within the skin. The study of bones of fish is more difficult than in other vertebrates. Fish skeletons are made up of many more bones. For example, humans have 28 skull bones and a fossil fish was found with more than 150 skull bones.

Skull
Heads of fish are unlike most of terrestrial vertebrates. Most fishes have heads able to expand largely to eat by suction. Their vertebral columns have a high lateral flexibility to give them the power to move in variant currents.

Like humans, fish have a hard skull to protect their brains.
The skull encloses and protects the brain and most of the sense organs. The jawbones of a fish work like  hinges to open and close the mouth. The black piranha has the strongest bite force recorded for bony fish.

Piranha fish jaw bones are so strong, that it can crush a human hand in 5-10 seconds.

Operculum
It is a bony cover that lies directly below the head. It protects the delicate gills.

Tails
It is made up of thin, rodlike bones. These bones are joined together to give the tail its flattened shape. Fish mammals use their tails to move through the water. Fish tails move side to side.

Fins
Piranhas have fins to help them control their movements. The fins are paired (two identical on both sides) and unpaired and are named for the areas where they are inserted on the body.

The fins on a fish’s back are called dorsal fins. They are made up of long, rod-shaped bones that make the fin stiff. The dorsal fin stops the fish from rolling over as it swims. The pectoral fins of a fish are supported by thin, rodlike bones. These fins on either side of the body help the fish turn left and right. The pectoral fins tilt slightly, like the flaps of an aircraft wing. Tilting the fins makes the fish swim up or down, or steer to one side.

Teeth
The Piranha fish has a mouthful of triangular, bladelike teeth. The top and bottom teeth work together like scissors to cut up food. It eats fruit and seeds as well as other fish. A group of piranha can quickly devour larger prey by neatly chopping it into bits. Since they are such active choppers, a piranha has to replace its teeth all of the time. Their teeth, luckily, grow in four sets. These sets are replaced about every 100 days.

Spinal Cord
The spinal cord is made up of a bundle of nerves that sends messages around the fish’s body from and to its brain. The spinal cord is protected by the backbone. A fish’s backbone is also known as its spine.

Heart
This organ pumps blood throughout the body delivering oxygen and digested nutrients to the cells of various organs. It transports waste products from the cells to the kidneys and liver for elimination. In fish, the circulatory system is a single circuit, with a 2-chambered heart, unlike the typical 4-chambered heart found in humans.

From the fish’s atrium blood is pumped into the ventricle of the heart. From the ventricle, blood is pumped to the gills where gas exchange takes place. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is expelled and oxygen (O2) is taken in. This re- oxygenated blood then flows on to the rest of the body’s tissues and organs removing carbon dioxide and replacing it with life-giving oxygen. Blood is finally pumped back to the heart’s atrium chamber where the process begins again.

Stomach
The stomach is often referred to as the gut, and is where food is digested and nutrients absorbed. By examining stomach contents, one can learn a great deal about fish feeding habits. Knowing what a specific fish species eats can also help with bait selection when fishing.

Kidney
Kidneys are organs that filter liquid waste from the blood. The kidney is also extremely important in regulating water and salt concentrations within the fish’s body. This allows certain fish species to exist in freshwater or saltwater and in some cases both.

Nares
All fish possess a sense of smell. Paired holes called nares, are used for detecting odors in the water, and are located on a fish’s snout. Experiments have shown that Piranhas have a very sharp sense of smell as it helps them find their food in the often murky waters of their native habitat as well as warns them of danger.

Liver
The liver has many digestive and storage functions. One is the production of bile, a solution which breaks down fats in the intestine. The liver also stores fats and carbohydrates, destroys old blood cells, maintains proper blood chemistry, and plays a role in nitrogen waste removal.

Intestine
The intestine is primarily an organ for absorbing nutrients into the bloodstream. The larger its internal surface, the greater its absorptive efficiency. Piranhas have a large area of the intestinal walls by having numerous folds and villi (fingerlike projections) somewhat like those in humans. Undigested substances are passed to the exterior through the anus.

Lateral Line
It runs down the length of a fish’s body. It is made up of a series of microscopic holes located just under the scales of the fish. Lateral line is a primary sense organ as it can sense low vibrations in the water, and is capable of determining the direction of their source.

Brain
It is the organ that controls the rest of its body. The brain is responsible for all the body’s movements.

Gills
These are feathery arches along the side of its head. They contain blood vessels that absorb oxygen from water.

Olfactory Bulb
It is an organ located in the forehead of fish that receives information about odours detected by cells in the nasal cavity. The smell receptors (axons) extend directly into the olfactory bulb, where information about odours is processed.

Molding a New Piranha

To familiarize yourself with the preparation process, read steps 1 through 6 first, before actually preparing the piranha.

1. Prepare the bones and organs by cleaning off any excess gel material from your last piranha.
2. Now assemble the piranha skeleton system and organs as shown in the sequence in the drawing below. After you have assembled the skeleton and internal organs, place the assembly into the cavity of the clear plastic piranha mold. Be sure to place the skeleton-organ assembly so that the vertical (underside) of this assembly faces upwards in the piranha mold.
3. Then place the clear plastic piranha mold with the internal structure assembly inside on to the clear plastic dissecting table so that the mold is level.
4. Since some of the compound may spill over the edge if you pour too much it is important to make sure that you are working over newspaper.
5. Mixing the piranha body: You will need a medium sized bowl, a plastic spoon or wooden spatula for mixing, and a measuring cup for the water. Take the bag of powder and with adult supervision carefully cut open the bag. Now take the open bag of powder and empty it into the bowl. Using your measuring cup measure 3/4 cup (175ml) of warm water. Then, take the water and slowly pour it into the bowl with the powder and stir until the parts are well combined. (Color may vary for the refill gel)
6. Once your mixture is a smooth pudding like consistency pour it into the piranha mold. Stop pouring once the material has reached the first lip of the piranha mold as pictured below. Store in refrigerator for one hour or until solid.
7. Now your piranha is ready to dissect. Simply remove the piranha from the mold and place it with the belly facing up on to the dissecting table. Since the piranha is not real, it is not possible to dissect as a real piranha. However, using your provided scalpel and probe, cut sections of the skin to reveal the internal organs and skeleton of your piranha.

The Piranha

The word “Piranha” literally translates as “tooth fish” in the indigenous Brazilian language of Tupi. Piranhas are fish which means that they are covered in scales, breathe with gills, and hatch from eggs.
Piranhas are also cold-blooded. If an animal is cold-blooded, they are not able to control their body temperature and must rely on their environment to heat up or cool down. They need warm water to survive and do not eat when the water temperature is less than 12°C (54°F) degrees.

Size
Most piranhas don’t get any bigger than 2 feet (60 centimeters) long. For example, the red-bellied piranha and the piraya piranha grow to about 20 inches (51 cm) long, while the black spot piranha grows to about 11 inches (28 cm).

Habitat
Piranhas live in rivers in streams in South America. 20 different species are found in the Amazon River. Some piranhas have been found around the world, but these are thought to be pets that were released into waterways. In some U.S. states, it is illegal to transport, purchase, possess or sell piranhas; other states require permits.

Habits
Piranhas live in groups called schools (shoal). It is a popular belief that these fish travel in groups so that they can attack a prey in a planned feeding frenzy. Scientists, however, think they travel together as a form of protection from predators. That’s not to say that frenzies never occur. When threatened, the shoal will group together with other shoals to take down the predator.

Diet
They are omnivores which mean that they will eat meat and plants. Most piranhas get a bad reputation as terrifying predators that will tear to shreds any flesh that dares dip into its waters. This actually isn’t true. Some piranhas eat more seeds than meat. Some species are vegetarian. Others species eat shrimp, crustaceans, worms, carrion and other fish. Attacks on humans are very rare.

There are lots of different kinds of piranhas, though the most common variety is known as the red-bellied piranhas, which is named because of its red belly. The red-bellied piranha is considered one of the more dangerous and aggressive species of piranha. In general, when red-bellied piranhas are feeding normally, the fish will spread out, and a scout will signal when a food source is found. When alerted, piranhas are very orderly. Some of the fish will take a bite and then move aside so another fish can take a bite.

Just one red-bellied piranha can eat around 2.46 grams per day or around one- eighth its body mass.
Some piranhas are very sneaky. They swim very quickly toward a target and bitie hard as they collide. They will cut bits of fins and scales from other fishes to survive.

Offspring
Female piranhas lay thousands of eggs at a time in the sand below the water source where they live. The red-bellied piranha female, for example, lays her eggs in a nest that is dug by her mate.
After the male fertilizes the eggs, they attach to plants at the bottom of the water source and hatch within just a few days. Piranhas live up to eight years.

Shape
Piranhas range in color from yellow to steel-grey to bluish to partly red to almost black. Piranhas have a bulldog-like face with a very large lower jaw and many razor-sharp teeth. All piranhas have a single row of sharp teeth in both jaws. Their teeth are tightly packed and interlocking (via small cusps) and used for rapid puncture and shearing.

Piranha as a Food
Locals use the teeth of piranha fish in tools and weapons. Piranha fish are also a popular food, though if caught on a hook or line it may be attacked by other piranhas. In recent decades, dried specimens have been marketed as tourist souvenirs.

Piranhas Attacks

Piranhas occasionally bite and sometimes injure bathers and swimmers, but truly serious attacks are rare and the threat to humans has been largely exaggerated. However, piranhas are a considerable nuisance to commercial and sport fishers because they steal bait, mutilate catch, damage nets and other gear and may bite when handled.

Fossil Evidence

Piranha ancestors’ fossils in the continent’s rivers date back to 25 million years ago, but modern piranha lives from 1.8 million years.

Life Cycle
Like every other animal on this planet, fishes also grow large enough to reproduce. Although each and every fish species has a unique method of reproduction, for generalizing we can divide the life cycle of a fish into seven stages. These seven stages are common in almost all the different species of fish.

1. Egg: In this stage, the embryo is formed inside the hardened egg, once the egg is fertilized. Then it will start to develop organs. After this, eye spots and tails are completely developed. Species living in warmer water hatch faster compared to the species living in colder water.
2. Larvae: Once the eggs are hatched, they are known as larva. New larva has a yolk sac. This yolk sac is the nutrition source for them. The larva can survive for 2-4 days by their yolk sac food supply.
3. Fry: Young fish are called fry once the yolk sac is fully absorbed. In this stage they are ready to start eating on their own. Fishes go through several development phases.
4. Juvenile: Metamorphosis is the process that marks an end point on the fry stage. In this phase, fishes acquire characteristics of an adult fish like: fins, color, body parts etc. and they are considered as juveniles. This stage is considered as a point of high mortality for a fish.
5. Smolt: In this stage, fishes grow more rapidly. Generally, smolt stays in brackish water.
6. Adult: In this stage, fish are able to reproduce. Now they complete the migration from freshwater to saltwater.
7. Spawning: Females release the eggs in water and males release milt that helps to fertilize the eggs.

CHEMICAL CONTENT LIST

• Gel of the Piranha: Water, Gellan Gum, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid Anhydrous, Colourants (CI 42090)
• Refill Pack: Gelatin, Citric Acid Anhydrous, Colourants (CI 42090)

General first aid information:

• In case of doubt seek medical advice without delay: Take the chemical and/or product together with the container with you.
• In case of injury always seek medical advice.
• If swallowed: Wash out mouth with water, drink some fresh water. Do not induce vomiting. Seek immediate medical advice.

Advice for adult supervision:

• This chemical toy is not suitable for children under 6 years. For use under adult supervision. Keep this chemical toy set out of reach of children under 6 years old.
• Read and follow these instructions, the safety rules and the first aid information and keep them for reference.
• Incorrect use of chemicals can cause injury and damage to health. Only carry out those activities which are listed in the instructions.
• Because children’s abilities vary so much, even within age groups, supervising adults should exercise discretion as to which activities are suitable and safe for them. The instructions should enable supervisors to assess any activity to establish its suitability for a particular child.
• The supervising adult should discuss the warnings, safety information and the possible hazards with the child or children before commencing the activities. Particular attention should be paid to the safe handling of alkalies, acids and flammable liquids.
• The area surrounding the activity should be kept clear of any obstructions and away from the storage of food. It should be well lit and ventilated and close to a water supply. A solid table with a heat resistant top should be provided.
• The working area should be cleaned immediately after carrying out the activity.

Safety Rules:

• “Keep younger children under the specified age limit and animals away from the activity area.”;
• “Store chemical toys out of reach of young children.”;
• “Wash hands after carrying out activities.”;
• “Clean all equipment after use.”;
•  “Do not use any equipment which has not been supplied with the set or recommended in the instructions for use.”;
• “Do not eat, drink or smoke in the activity area.”;
• “Do not place the preserved material in the mouth.”

Methods and materials for containment and cleaning up for gel of the piranha and refill pack powder:
Pick up mechanically. Keep in suitable, closed containers for disposal.

Dissect-It™ is a trademark of Rehco L.L.C. under license to Top Secret Toys International Ltd., Room 307, Heng Ngai Jewelry Centre, 4 Hok Yuen Street East, Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. TM denotes US Trademarks under license from Rehco, L.L.C. Dissect-It™ is subject to patent under license from Rehco, L.L.C., US Pat. No. 5,934,969 © 2019 Rehco LLC. All rights reserved. Patents:
www.rehkemper.com/topsecrettoys/hovertech/patents

References

• Silverlit – The Power Experience

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