Anyone else hear about this strange fish caught?

[DTro]

A fisherman makes a very unusual catch at Buffalo Springs Lake.

Late Tuesday afternoon, a fisherman hooked a fish he says he`s never seen before and lake officials are just as amazed: a 20-pound fish with what looks like human teeth.

Scott Curry has caught thousands of fish at Buffalo Springs Lake. He knew his catch was something special from the time he hooked it.

"It took a long time to (reel)in," he says. "I didn`t want to lose it. I was afraid line would break on it."

After reeling in the 20-pounder, Curry realized it wasn`t a typical catch. This one had teeth.

"I haven`t seen anything like it," he says.

"I`ve lived out here 36-years, and I`ve never seen a fish like that out here in my life," says Greg Thornton, General Manager of Buffalo Springs Lake.

Internet searches show it might be a pacu, a fish familiar to South America or a tambaqui, one of the most valuable commercial fish in the Amazon.

"Some one likely got rid of it out here," thinks Thornton.

A game warden has taken pictures and will try to identify it in the next few days.

When Curry caught the fish, he said he saw another one just like it. Lake officials have put a bounty on that, anyone catching it will get $100.

If you want to see the unusual fish, it can be seen in the spring pond at Buffalo Springs Lake.

BTW this is in Texas

[DTro]

Here's a video...lol

Toothy Critter

[ocf]

there was one caught in the st. croix a few weeks ago up here not nearly as big tho

[metrojoe]

Here is a picture of some teeth from a fish we caught in Florida. I can't remember the name of the fish right off, but I'll post it later.

[Slyster]

Is this real? Must be some sort of tropical implant from S. America or something.

[metrojoe]

Sheepshead. I don't know why I couldn't remember it. It's also known as a Convict Fish because of it's stripes. Anyways, they are found gulfwide.

I'm not saying this is the same fish, but it does have human like teeth.

[Walleyeguy31]

Convicts are freshwater fish but get knowhere as big as the one above. They do breed like rabbits though.Maybe get 8 inches at the most. They are in the cichlid family, very territorial.

[metrojoe]

I don't think we are talking about the same fish. The ones we caught are part of the Porgy and Seabream family. We caught these in St Andrews Bay near bridge pillars. It's not uncommon to catch them in the 2lb to 8lb range, but they can get up to 20lbs.

[katoguy]

Definitely a pacu. One was caught earlier this month in Colorado, too. Here is a better video:

http://www.local6.com/news/9542967/detail.html

[Bubbadust]

The saltwater sheephead is very different from the freshwater convict. I used to keep and raise the freshwater kind and I fish the others in Florida every year. I even froze some and brought them home this last February and they're quite tasty.

[SomethingFishy*]

Colossoma macropomum AKA: Black-Finned Pacu or Tambaqui

Pacus are relatives of the Piranha, and Pacus look like Piranhas. But Pacus are mainly vegetarians that will adapt to eat almost anything. In the wild they eat very hard nut-like vegetation that they crush in their powerful mouths. Pacus are not recommended for most aquariums because, when given proper care, they will quickly grow to a very large size.

Pacus can grow to 24" and even bigger, but they usually do not grow bigger than 12" in an aquarium. They can live for several years and perhaps many years in a huge aquarium.

[river rat316]

its a pacu, I just lost my huge female Pacu, 3 years old and weighed well over 4 pounds and was 17-19" long!!