Is the testicle-eating fish spreading across the country? Exotic piranha relative caught in family lake on the West Coast
The infamous Pacu, known as the 'testicle eating fish' or 'ball cutter' seems to have spread from coast to coast.
After the news last week that a New Jersey pensioner reeled in one of the exotic fish, notorious for reportedly killing men by ripping off their genitals, comes the news that one was caught in August in a quiet family lake in Washington state.
Snaring the five pound, 17-inch pacu, a relative of the piranha native to the Amazon and Pacific Islands, fisherman John Denton was stunned to hook the scary looking fish with its distinctive human-shaped teeth.
Scroll Down for VIdeo
Whopper: John Denton reeled this huge pacu specimen in in early August from Lake Ki in Washington state
'Bang, there it was,' said Denton to the Washington Daily Herald. 'It's a pretty big fish, a big ol' herking fish.'
Accustomed to catching perch and bluegill from Lake Ki, northwest of Marysville, Denton took 20 minutes to reel in his pacu.
Share this article
Told by one of his neighbors who used to work in an aquarium that he believed the fish to be a pacu, Denton put the fish into water and waited to take it to the local pet shop - where the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife could come an inspect it.
Although part of the same family, the pacu has thicker, sturdier teeth that resemble human ones, unlike the piranha, which is renowned for its deadly serrated incisors.
Teeth: The unusual human-like teeth of the pacu are on display in this picture of the exotic fish caught from Lake Ki in Washington
Pacu's are legal to own in the United States and can grow up to 4 feet long, which is why the owner may have worried and released it into Lake Ki.
In 2011, one intrepid British angler traveled to Papua New Guinea to catch pacu, known locally as 'The Ball Cutter'.
Jeremy Wade, 53, hunted for the legendary pacu after hearing reports of the fish killing local fishermen by castration.
The 'Ball Cutter' it is said to use its man-like molars, which tear off the testicles of unwitting hunters, leaving them to bleed to death.
Saved: The Pacu was taken to a local petshop for examination by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and then taken to be relocated
'I had heard of a couple of fishermen in Papua New Guinea who had been castrated by something in the water,' said Wade on his British television program 'River Monsters'.
'The bleeding was so severe that they died. The locals told me that this thing was like a human in the water, biting at the testicles of fishermen. They didn’t know what it was.'
However, Jeff Holmes, of Fish & Wildlife, said that the likelihood of a population starting in the temperate north west is unlikely and he said that its reputation is not deserved.
Most watched News videos
- Pro-Palestine flags at University of Michigan graduation ceremony
- Man spits towards pro-Israel counter-protesters in front of police
- Moment pro-Palestine activists stage Gaza protest outside Auschwitz
- Zelensky calls on Ukrainians on Orthodox Easter to unite in prayer
- Police arrest man in Preston on suspicion of aiding boat crossings
- Benjamin Netanyahu rejects ceasefire that would 'leave Hamas in power'
- Tears for Daniel Anjorin: Mourners gather at vigil for 14-year-old
- Deliveroo customer calls for jail after rider bit off his thumb
- NJ dad seen in hospital carrying limp body of six-year-old son
- Huge street brawl explodes in the street between groups of men
- The story of Anita Pallenberg in never-seen-before home movies
- Rescue team smash through roof to save baby in flooded Brazil
