MEN in Sweden are being warned to stay out of the water on the country’s southern coast after the South American pacu – a fish known for attacking testicles – was discovered in the area.
The alert came after a fisherman in the Oresund Sound recently discovered a 21cm example of the savage fish, which is a relative of the piranha.
The pacu, which can grow up to 90cms and weigh up to 25kgs, has been nicknamed the “ball cutter” for its attacks on male genitalia. Where the species commonly occurs, fishermen have reportedly bled to death after losing their testicles to the fish’s crushing jaws.
Found in most rivers in the Amazon and Orinoco basins in South America, they have also been spotted in Papua New Guinea and in several US states. In 2006, officials at one Texas lake reportedly put a $100 bounty on the pacu caught there.
“The pacu is not normally dangerous to people but it has quite a serious bite, there have been incidents in other countries, such as Papua New Guinea where some men have had their testicles bitten off,” Henrik Carl, a fish expert at the Danish museum, said.
“They bite because they’re hungry, and testicles sit nicely in their mouth,” he told The Local.
Read more here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/sweden/10234986/Swedish-men-told-to-beware-testicle-munching-fish.html
