Now THIS is an invasive every man may fear!

[Tom7227]

Pacu, the testicle-eating fish, found in Illinois lake

By Stacey Leasca | 08:05 am

The pacu fish might not be as large as jaws, but for men it can be just as frightening.

The pacu is lovingly referred to as the "ball cutter" after killing two men in Papua New Guinea by biting off the testicles off at least two local men.

The fish that sports human-like teeth and can weigh up to 55 pounds, has been spotted in Lake Lou Yaeger in Illinois, KSDK reported.

The lake's superintendent Jim Caldwell brought the fish to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources after initially responding to a report that a piranha had been caught. The lab quickly identified it as a pacu, according to the Huffington Post. There are conflicting reports that a second pacu fish had been spotted shortly after.

How did a fish native to the Amazon basin end up in a small late in the middle of Illinois? Caldwell believes they were dumped there and were most likely someone's aquarium pet.

Caldwell told KSDK that he isn't worried about the fish and continues to swim in the lake everyday. He is however concerned about the pacu's impact on other marine life, as when they are hungry they will hunt and eat other fish.

[BartmanMN]

That fish was on the River Monsters show too.

[Stick in Mud]

Lol. Thanks for sharing.

[Hoey]

I spotted two fish in my rain water/street runoff pond in my backyard in MN. I was able to land one after three attempts as they would run strongly and straighten my hook. Took photos and went online to determine what it was as I had not seen anything like this before.

Low and behold it was a Pacu, 16 to 18 inches long. This was 3 years ago and I have not seen them since. Hopefully they did not survive the winter. Unfortunately, they were probably discarded pets.

[DonBo]

[goblueM]

There've been pacu found in the Mississippi warmwater discharges before I believe. Its surprisingly common for them to be roaming around, like the article said they get dumped from aquaria. Usually can't overwinter in the Midwest unless they are in a power plant discharge or something

[mrklean]

The one nice thing about the cold winters it will kill off some of those non natives that cant take the cold

[Sonicrunch]

As if the ball biting wasn't bad enough, they have human teeth as well.

[TruthWalleyes]

Maybe we need stickers for everyone's aquarium so they remember not to trasfer their fish to MN Waters

[PurpleFloyd]

They have been sold in fish stores for as long as I can remember. When they are smaller they can be difficult to differentiate from a piranha but they grow to be much larger.

I would imagine that a great many of them have been released into the waters by people who are shutting down their aquariums over the years.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Maybe we need stickers for everyone's aquarium so they remember not to trasfer their fish to MN Waters

Or shark proof swim suits

[FM_Mike]

As if the ball biting wasn't bad enough, they have human teeth as well.

Looks like they take better control of their teeth than some people I've seen.

Mike

[Fishin Dood]

I guess I won't be skinny dipping around any warm water discharges for a while...

[fisherman-andy]

Fortunately spread of such information is widely false. PACU's may prey on smaller bait fish but its not in their nature to eat meat, nor humans. Any Biologist who knows the nature of the PACU will tell you its teeths is for eating tree nuts, not human genitals.

As with all fish anything that wiggles in the water looking like bait will likely receive attention. Fingers, feet, arms, legs etc. Anything else is unusual.

I have not found any supporting evidence or proof that the PACU was found to attack the genital of locals of Papa New Guinea. As such locals tend to over exagerate stories and incidents.

This fish originates or is found in Amazon River, the local fisherman/children there swim with PACU fish daily, I havent found any such reports of similiar attacks there?

If you ask me I would likely be much more afraid of a Pike or Muskie...

[Gordie]

Maybe we need stickers for everyone's aquarium so they remember not to trasfer their fish to MN Waters

and sanitation stations at all the pet store entrances.

[Tom7227]

Andy is a spoil sport, Andy is a spoil sport.

Think anyone cares about the facts? Guys are just screwin around here dude.

[mainbutter]

I saw a guy down at a florida canal that said he was fishing for them, and was using STRAWBERRIES as bait!

I wonder if they are tasty. Dollars to donuts they are good eating.

[SpecialK]

[Slabasaurus]

I have not found any supporting evidence or proof that the PACU was found to attack the genital of locals of Papa New Guinea. As such locals tend to over exagerate stories and incidents.

Quote from Waiting for Guffman seems appropriate here.

Dr. Allen Pearl: "Mmmmmmmmmedicine man not go near dances with stumpy!"

[BartmanMN]

wear a swim suit and you'll be fine. Dangle your junk in the water, and look out.

I go to some lakes that you can't even swim in without a t-shirt on or the Sunnies will attack your nipples and any mole on you.

[fisherman-andy]

Andy is a spoil sport, Andy is a spoil sport.

Think anyone cares about the facts? Guys are just screwin around here dude.

Sorry to foil you fun. But too bad so sad. I've said it already. Guess you wouldnt you like to know the facts just in case you fell off the boat into infested waters where the PACU lives? lol..

Lets just call it a Piranha instead for fun.

[ANYFISH2]

I raised a Pacu for several years until it unfortunatly died, by far my favorite fish I have had in my aquarium. Pacu prefer to eat vegitation, however, being I couldn't grow enough plants or proper plants for that matter, I fed the Pacu minnows. He would eat anything from crappie minnows to pike suckers. He had quite the appetite!

I am sure many people discard them in lakes when they grow to big for their aquariums(stupid), as Pacu will keep growing reguardless of the size of thier habitat. Mine grew from about 3.5" to 17" in 5 years.

I think they would be fun to catch in the wild.

[Selmer]

Are we still talking about fish?

Do we really need thinly veiled racist commentary? Take it somewhere else, or better yet, realize that you make yourself look like an silly-me with comments that could be as easily applied to you or anyone else. After all, if your avatar is a proud picture of you, then you're a "non-native" as well.

[muskE]

Any Biologist who knows the nature of the PACU will tell you its teeths is for eating tree nuts, not human genitals.

Why woudn't they attack the sack? What is that area commonly referred to? Maybe these fish get confused when we commonly call them nuts?