Testicle-eating fish could be headed to UK after being found in Paris

The ‘ball-cutter’ fish, which reportedly bites human testicles, could be on its way to the UK after being found in France.

Male swimmers in Britain could soon have to wear extra protection down below after the pacu was caught worryingly close to these shores in Paris’s Seine river.

Police in the French capital took a photo of the Amazon based fish and said it measured 1ft.

It can grow as large as 35in (90cm) and weigh up to 55lb (25kg).

The pacu, which has reportedly caused men to bleed to death after biting their testicles, had previously turned up in Sweden.

‘The pacu is not normally dangerous to people but it has quite a serious bite,’ said fish expert Henrik Carl.

‘There have been incidents in other countries, such as Papua New Guinea where some men have had their testicles bitten off.

‘They bite because they’re hungry, and testicles sit nicely in their mouth.’

http://metro.co.uk/2013/09/04/testicle-eating-fish-could-be-headed-to-uk-after-being-found-in-paris-3949624/

'Vegetarian piranha' hooked in Hudson

ALBANY -- A South American fish sometimes called the "vegetarian piranha" got hooked by an angler in the Hudson River over the weekend, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The fish, called a pacu, is a cousin to the infamous flesh-eating predator, but instead eats plants and is not a threat to humans or other animals. It likely got into the river when someone dumped out the fish from a home aquarium.

Albany resident Steve Oathout said he was fishing off the Watervliet bike path Saturday evening when he caught the unusual flat fish, which was gray with a red underbelly. He took a picture and released the fish, which was about 16 inches long and weighed three pounds.

Reports to the DEC of pacus, which are widely available in aquarium shops, being caught in Hudson and Mohawk rivers average about one a year, DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino said.

The pacu looks similar to the piranha, but is larger and can grow to about the size of a turkey in its native habitat of Brazil. The pacu does not share the razor sharp teeth of its cousin.

But the piranha and the pacu have something in common -- neither fish can survive the colder waters of upstate New York in the winter.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Vegetarian-piranha-hooked-in-Hudson-1584936.php#ixzz1TDmir3pF