General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'Testicle-Eating' Pacu Fish Found In New Jersey
The fish is native to South America, but was caught on Sunday in Passaic, a town in Northern New Jersey. The 10-inch fish was caught by Tom Boylan on Sunday while he was fishing.
The fish is actually much less dangerous than its piranha cousins, and doesn't generally have an appetite for flesh. According to LiveScience's Megan Gannon:
... its teeth are used mainly to crush nuts and fruits, the pacu eats other fish and invertebrates and there have been some reports of human attacks. In Papua New Guinea, the invasive species has reportedly earned a reputation as the "ball-cutter" after castrating a couple of local fishermen.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/pacu-found-in-new-jersey-2013-9
Aerows
(39,961 posts)They would come to the surface and eat hamburger meat. Until they got so big we had to donate them to the Aquarium of the Americas. They outgrew a 200 gallon tank that had before held tiger Oscars just fine. Even the cat was scared of them.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)Doesn't sound pleasant.
I'm closing my legs as I type this.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)they bob to the surface and like to get "rubbed". Of course, you have to make sure you feed them first.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)The fish? Or the testicles?
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I'm absolutely serious. Oscars exhibit this behavior, too, but Pacu's do it a lot more. Like I said, though, feed them first, because kids have lost fingers doing it before feeding the fish first.
The cat stuck his paw in the tank once. ONCE.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Got it.
I thought you were talking about the testicles.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)But you are welcome to as many sets of testicles as you like!
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)All to your taste, and not to mine!
jmowreader
(50,559 posts)I used to have a couple of Jack Dempseys that also liked being petted.
Pacu shouldn't be sold. They grow to an unmanageable size and no one will eat them.
Historic NY
(37,451 posts)all five will come up to be fed at the same time they like contact...makes for an interesting feeding session. Now if I can break them of the habit of throwing the large gravel at the glass tank to get my attention.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)And neither are most fish kept ornamentally, because they are pets. These just happen to be a hell of a lot more aggressive than most.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)msanthrope
(37,549 posts)I don't know about that. They just go for anything dangling and available. They are voracious eaters. And get confused with piranhas easily.
TheCowsCameHome
(40,168 posts)Disclaimer. I don't have a fish.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)They really were cool, they just got huge.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,370 posts)Truly.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I'm trying to be instructional and this entire subthread just went completely out of control. LMAO.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)Awww....that's cute.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)with less risk because they are smaller. It's really sweet when they do it. It's like having a dear little puppy in the tank, but be careful, because while both breeds are smart, they are still fish. It's still sweet as heck when they do it.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)Testes look like food and the fish ain't that picky. They're not going to go out of their way to eat your balls...you just don't want to encounter them naked or have one swim up your shorts. Wear underwear or a speedo and you won't have any problems.
bunnies
(15,859 posts)Go figure.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,370 posts)bunnies
(15,859 posts)I remember that!!!
reddread
(6,896 posts)Pretty sure their victims would give their left nut for a Pacu instead.
ouch.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Pacu's don't leave much of anything behind when they eat. There's a reason why they often get misidentified as piranha.
reddread
(6,896 posts)Candirus are small enough to find their way upstream into a urinary tract past a suit, I suppose you know the rest.
Besides, what can a Pacu do to a woman?
Piranhas (pir-an-ya as George S Myers spelled it out) are big babies.
Pacus just get huge.
People that dump their unwanted aquarium monsters are serious threats to the planet.
Someday all we will have is goldfish out there.
quinnox
(20,600 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)They are pretty awesome and scary all at that same time.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Probably explains why one was in the Passaic. Would they survive the winter? But maybe power plant outflows keep some areas warm enough for them.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)They typically need warm waters, but they are very pretty fish, and can get HUGE, so maybe the increased body fat and lowered surface area helps them survive in chillier waters.
reddread
(6,896 posts)they can probably survive anywhere that offers water temps above the low 50's year round. shallows and stratification probably make that possible in many localities. Tuna certainly have some interesting vascular tricks going on. Maybe other large fish do also?
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I was too busy blushing about everyone teasing me about rubbing the fish and how it relates to testicles that I got flustered. But yes, they get big, and I would assume that as it takes longer for a glacier to melt than it takes an ice cube, these guys can survive. Not to mention they can be vicious as hell.
reddread
(6,896 posts)recall a former housemate throwing his dead pacu away after an extended power outage while all of mine just made it.
tanks largely to a friends heroic effort at bringing a power generator a few hours before power was restored.
They are highly sensitive to low oxygen. Maybe that is why they are thriving in river conditions.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)They likely won't breed in Jersey, but they can definitely live there. But then... maybe they will breed, and a new invasive species is made!
I remember catching an oscar cichlid while fishing in Falls Lake in North Carolina when I was seven. Woulda bene nice to keep him, as we had a huge tank already... but the hook had torn up his inner jaws.
By the by, waste not want not - feral oscar doesn't taste too bad.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Which one was yours? I've kept Green Terrors, Tiger Oscars (my favorite) and some African ones.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)I wish I had room at my place for a tank... Or a supplier that wasn't a ferry ride and drive away I miss my aquariums
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Friendly fish, and as long as there is adequate aeration in the tank, pretty hardy. And friendly. They display the behavior of coming to the top of the tank to get stroked by their people after being fed.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)He wound up making threat displays at anyone who approached the tank, except my mom, who he would let pet him. We named him Grouch, because we're not clever people
Aerows
(39,961 posts)and they adore you as much as a fish possibly can .
They do like to be petted after you have fed them, it reminds them of some sort of maternal thing with fish. I don't know. I just know all cichlids display such behavior and Pacu and Tiger Oscars the most.
They aren't fish for the faint hearted, though.
Because you could lose a finger.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)Pacus and Tigers are seriously pets. You can train them to eat balls of feed.
reddread
(6,896 posts)Oscars are said to be as smart as "smart" dogs in terms of some IQ scoring, or other appraisal, apparently.
Strangely, after decades and thousands of cichlids, I only really ever had one, George.
George would jump clear out of the tank for snails.
Cant believe I never had another, but there are just so many incredible species to keep and breed.
Dovii a particular favorite.
Pacus? They just know how to eat and grow.
Mastacembelids are very intelligent as well.
Many fish, and other aquatics will dazzle a careful observer with their intelligence and numerous methods of
communicating, including the things you simply cant see.
Absolutely nothing ever came close to this Octopus I had.
that was out of this world.
They can do the most amazing things with their surface texture and coloration.
We dont have anything on them in terms of communication technology.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I'm not going to label them as brilliant, because they were smart, but not brilliant. The Pacu's? They were scare the shit out of you brilliant and you were thankful they didn't get out of the tank or were a species that tried.
reddread
(6,896 posts)what did they do that wasnt driven by the desire to eat?
Oscars truly are rated highly, Mastacembelids also.
You can just look at one and see that sob's wheels spinning.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)nothing. Those fish could be tamed as long as food was present.
So I guess you are right. Tiger Oscars can get genuinely attached to people, as can Green Terror cichlids.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)They can be taught tricks by the person they get attached to. Make no mistake, they DO get attached.
reddread
(6,896 posts)I dont really know too many stupid fish. Even my chubby favorite Electric Catfish probably has shocking thought processes.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)play tic tac toe. She was a humongous Pacu, though.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I don't know what the author of that article was smoking, but they are aggressive, huge, and ... kind of friendly, too. I cried when we had to give Sinbad up. He outgrew the tank. He was gorgeous and went to the Aquarium of the Americas he was so damn huge after he outgrew a 500 gallon tank at the fish store.
He's probably gone now, but he was MAGNIFICENT. He was a neat fish. He was afraid of nothing.
gopiscrap
(23,761 posts)PADemD
(4,482 posts)gopiscrap
(23,761 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)bite viciously is fooling themselves. They are named "false piranha" and can be tamed in a tank, but they get humongous, which is a problem. I loved mine, but I'd stick my finger in his tank when he was hungry as soon as I would advertise to lose a limb. They can be very sweet, but they are still fish and must be fed heavily to let that come out in them.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)He gets past 70 lbs if he has enough to eat. He could probably survive the cold waters and is big enough to threaten a human's dangly bits, EASILY. All Pacu are kind of scary, though LOL.
BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)It didn't *hurt* him, or injure him permanently, but he was not interested in going there anymore.
BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)and even a slow learner becomes a quick one LMAO.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)*puts on stainless steel jockstrap under suit*
Aerows
(39,961 posts)You will be fine.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)You have it right, don't offer it. Is it so hard to keep it in boxers and swimming trunks?
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Thank God there were no pacu fish around lol
I know, I know, TMI
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)You're asking for trouble.
House of Roberts
(5,177 posts)He's a big enough testicle.
It'll grow old and die without ever having to eat again.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)They eat a LOT. Though Christie is big.
We probably shouldn't be calculating how many Pacu's it takes to eat Christie, or how many days it takes for one to eat him.
It is rather ... ugly.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Glassunion
(10,201 posts)JEFF9K
(1,935 posts)underpants
(182,829 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)they probably just went skinny dipping and it looked inviting to them, since they eat fruits, nuts and such.
Buns_of_Fire
(17,181 posts)Where another invasive fish, the Jumping Asian Carp, also hang out.
So, when they interbreed pretty soon, we're gonna wind up with giant fish that jump into the boat and eat your balls.
I'm always in awe of the endless wonders of Mother Nature.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)make sure you are NOT swinging free. They can be friendly and curious. Too curious. And have a set of jaws you don't want to mess with.
GReedDiamond
(5,313 posts)FarCenter
(19,429 posts)GReedDiamond
(5,313 posts)Last edited Sat Sep 28, 2013, 12:05 AM - Edit history (1)
...thanks.
GReedDiamond
(5,313 posts)...it's an airbrush painting on canvas I did several years ago.
I'd probably make some changes to it, if I could.