It has been reported that the pacu fish, which can weigh as much as 55 pounds, has been found in Lake Lou Yaeger in Illinois so you might want to stay out of the water. What is so special about this fish? For starters, biologists have said that the pacu loves to eat nuts. The fish was caught by a fisherman who thought he had caught a piranha. The fish was brought to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources by lake superintendent Jim Caldwell for it to be examined. The fish was identified as a pacu. A second pacu was found just weeks later in the same lake.
Caldwell has said that he swims in the lake each day. Pacu fish are said to eat aquatic vegetation, nuts and snails. Caldwell also said that the pacu does not pose threats to humans. Papua New Guinea residents state the opposite though. Jeremy Wade, a British fisherman, said that pacu is known as the ‘ball cutter.’ Wade was informed by local authorities in 2011 that two fisherman died from blood loss after something bit of their testicles in the water.
“The locals told me that this thing was like a human in the water, biting at the testicles of fishermen,” Wade said.
Wade came to the conclusion that the testicle biter was the pacu, which has teeth much like humans. Wade also said that such attacks are very uncommon. The fish is native to the Amazon Basin but they were added to the waters of Papua New Guinea in the decade of the 1990s to increase fisheries. Biologists working on the case in Illinois have said that pacus found in the lake there are more than likely former aquarium pets. If someone is caught dumping a pacu in the lake he or she could be charged with criminal counts.
