[DiamondSmiles]

Ferocious 'testicle-eating fish' caught in Illinois lake

A scary report that an angler had netted a piranha in Illinois' Lake Lou Yaeger soon turned into an even scarier report when authorities identified the fish as a pacu, a close, and much larger, cousin of the piranha that's known in some countries for biting human testicles off.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is assuring people that pacus pose no threat to humans, but many have pointed to incidents in South America that beg to differ.


From another source:

The pacu fish, originally from the Amazon Basin, has recently been caught in Lake Lou Yaegar in Illinois and is famously known for biting at the testicles of fishermen.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources identified the species, which is a cousin to the piranha. Some reports also note that another pacu was seen weeks later. Biologists says the species might be aquarium pets and anyone found dumping the fish in the lake can be criminally charged.

The pacu can weigh up to 55 pounds and eats nuts, aquatic vegetation and snails, but is known as the “ball cutter” in Papua New Guinea said British Fisherman, Jeremy Wade. In the 1990′s, the pacu was introduced into Papua New Guinea’s rivers as a food source, for locals, after overfishing.

In 2011, Wade said locals informed him that two fisherman had died from blood loss after something in the water had bitten off their testicles, according to the Metro.

“The locals told me that this thing was like a human in the water, biting at the testicles of fishermen,” Wade said.

Wade determined that the perpetrator was the pacu, which is known for having human-like teeth. The angler did note that such attacks are uncommon, the Daily Mail reports.

A clip of a feeding frenzy, and a still of those teeth, which look human!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JdzxrIDzDqQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

*I'm cringing for you, guys!*

there have been reports of Pacu in 30 states... most are likely released pets (which irritates me... invasive species are devestating to ecosystems)... these fish are not known to attack humans, they generally eat plant matter in the wild but will feed off of carcasses if the chance is there.

i've heard the testicular munching story before but those stories have not been confirmed and would show a dramatic change in the feeding behavior of the fish, which is unlikely... the poor fish get a bad rap because they look like Pirahana but they are not aggressive animals.

[Space Particle]

Diamond you make me laugh, “ball cutter" lmao

[Steve]

Ouch my fucking nuts.

[chris50stang]

haha "chopper sick balls"

Originally Posted by chris50stang ↗

haha "chopper sick balls"

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by JackiRive26 ↗

Diamond you make me laugh, “ball cutter" lmao

Thank you, but, I cannot take credit for that one. I copied the articles as they were ;)

[FunkPumpkin]

Diamondsmiles, I watched that episode of "River Monsters" with Jeremy Wade. Yes, the pacu in that locale had been attacking humans, but you forgot to mention a very important point.

Prior to the introduction of pacu into that area, there was a dense mat of floating vegetation on the lake. The pacu consumed all of it, which negatively impacted locale crocodile populations which relied upon that floating mat to mate. It also represents a severe depletion of the built-in food supply for the pacu. It is this combination of events that led Jeremy to postulate *that* was the reason the pacu were attacking living animals for food, everything from humans to crocodiles. It is their large size, lack of predators and scarcity of their natural diet that is believed to be causing the pacu in that area to behave carnivorously.

Originally Posted by FunkPumpkin ↗

Diamondsmiles, I watched that episode of "River Monsters" with Jeremy Wade. Yes, the pacu in that locale had been attacking humans, but you forgot to mention a very important point.

Prior to the introduction of pacu into that area, there was a dense mat of floating vegetation on the lake. The pacu consumed all of it, which negatively impacted locale crocodile populations which relied upon that floating mat to mate. It also represents a severe depletion of the built-in food supply for the pacu. It is this combination of events that led Jeremy to postulate *that* was the reason the pacu were attacking living animals for food, everything from humans to crocodiles. It is their large size, lack of predators and scarcity of their natural diet that is believed to be causing the pacu in that area to behave carnivorously.

this is correct.

[Sandbwoy]

Imagine that thing chomping into your ball sack