On Aug. 4, local fisherman Einar Lindgreen was going through his catch after fishing in the Oresund, the strait between Denmark and Sweden. Besides the eels and perch, Lindgreen also netted an exotic fish suspected to be a red-bellied pacu, which is native to the Amazon and has uncannily human-looking teeth.
"It's the first time this species has been caught in the wild in Scandinavia," fish expert Peter Rask Møller of the University of Copenhagen said in a statement. "Discovering whether this fish is a lone wanderer or a new invasive species will be very exciting. And a bit scary."
The toothy South American fish has crept into lakes and rivers far outside its native range, likely after getting loose from aquariums
and fish farms. Though its teeth are used mainly to crush nuts and fruits, the pacu eats other fish and invertebrates and there have been some reports of human attacks. In Papua New Guinea, the invasive species has reportedly earned a reputation as the "ball-cutter" after castrating a couple of local fishermen.Continued
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