Pacu has a bad reputation to devour testicles
Pacu is a freshwater fish in South America found in most rivers and streams in the river basins of the Amazon and the Orenoc, but they were also reported as far as Papua New Guinea, where it was artificially introduced using the local fishing industry, and even in the most surprising Øresund between Denmark and Sweden, source ).
The pacu is affiliated with the piranha carnivore, both sharing the same subfamily Serrasalminae even if they have different eating habits. Piranha is a carnivorous species while pacu is omnivorous with a vegetarian tendency. The difference is manifested at the level of their teeth . The piranha has sharp, sharp teeth, while the pacu has more square, straighter, and strangely resemble those of Man.
The pacus uses their teeth mainly to crush nuts and fruits, but they sometimes eat other fish and invertebrates. They usually eat walnuts and floating fruit that fall from trees in the Amazon, and on several occasions it was read that they attacked swimmer testicles by taking them for walnuts. That earned them the nickname "testicle feeder" after beating some local fishermen in Papua New Guinea. Then, when the fish was spotted in waters in Denmark and later in the states of Washington, New Jersey and Illinois last year, a slight panic followed.
While they are not aggressive carnivores like piranhas, the strength of their jaw can be dangerous. A child had to be operated after a pacu bit his finger to the Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World In Scotland. In fact, the pacu can eat anything. He became a carnivore because of the lack of food in the Amazon rivers.
For example, it is legal to own a pacu in an aquarium in the United States, it is easy to raise them. The problem is that people are not aware that the pacu can reach 1 meter 20 . Much too big for their aquarium, people release them in lakes and rivers near them. Hence their presence in strange places for their species as in Denmark.
A year ago, many newspapers exhibited this devouring fish of testicles. Did you hear about it?
Sources: 1, 2
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