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Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13151783

LAKE WYLIE, SC (WBTV) - A fishing trip on Lake Wylie went a little differently than one Clover man planned when the fish he caught bit him with human-like teeth.

Frank Yarborough went fishing along Lake Wylie on September 6th and ended up with a catch that is puzzling local marine biologists.

Yarborough thought he'd caught a catfish near the Buster Boyd Bridge, but when he scooped his hand in the water to pull it out, the fish clamped down on his thumb. The bite stung, because the fish had teeth that very closely resemble human teeth.

Robert Stroud, a Freshwater Fisheries Biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, says the samples from the fish have been sent off to Charleston and to Florida to help determine what kind of fish Yarborough caught.

"This fish is more than likely a common species of Pacu, Colossama macropomum, originating from the Amazon River basin of South America and is quite common in the aquarium trade," Stroud told WBTV.

Pacus are a distant relative to the piranha family.

Stroud told WBTV the fish weighed in just under five pounds and was 19.4 inches long, the largest of its kind found in Lake Wylie.

A pacu is a warm water fish, and not a native species to Lake Wylie. Biologists believe it was probably raised in an exotic fish tank and was released when it got too large for the tank.

The fish is currently in a freezer in Yarborough's Clover home.
Click to expand...

pacu_006.jpg
 
BoomerD

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
65,907
14,309
146
Pacu turn up here from time to time in local lakes. I agree that most likely, it outgrew someone's aquarium and they dumped it in the lake.
Ugly motherfuckers...but, unlike their cousins the piranha, they're not as aggressive...but they WILL bite...and you can easily lose a finger to a larger one.

http://www.fishdeals.com/characins/pacu/
 
CZroe

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
Why do people release fish? Don't they know better? What's wrong with killing it when it gets too big for it's tank? ;)
 
DAPUNISHER

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
31,680
31,538
146
CZroe said:
Why do people release fish? Don't they know better? What's wrong with killing it when it gets too big for it's tank? ;)
Click to expand...
My best guess is that they get emotionally attached to it. So letting it go is their "Free Willy" moment.
 
DrPizza

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
Pacu can get very big in just a few years. Most people can't handle an aquarium big enough in their homes. My brother had a "huge" pacu - huge for a house, but not huge compared to some of the pacus I've seen in aquariums (3 or 4 feet across). He would feed it carrots. There was something eerie about it when you could hear it biting off pieces of the carrots.
 
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