The possibilities are endless when you have the imagination of a child, so though this kid caught a fish native to another continent that appeared to have human teeth, it was probably just another day of Oklahoma pond fishing for him.
A stout red-bellied Pacu was reeled in by young fisherman Charlie Clinton while he was fishing in a neighborhood pond this past weekend. One of his parents clearly knew that something wasn’t right once they pulled the fish out of the water, but Charlie was just happy to rip another lip.
Red-bellied Pacu fish are very closely related to the Red Piranha, which explains why the teeth of the fish don’t exactly resemble the usual set of chompers we see on fish common to the United States.
Pictures of the weird looking fish were snapped and then sent to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife conservation, who quickly put together a post about the catch, saying:
“A young angler, Charlie Clinton, was fishing in a neighborhood pond over the weekend when he got an unusual bite. Charlie reeled in what turned out to be a Pacu, which is a South American fish closely related to Piranha.
Pacu have been caught in a few fisheries in Oklahoma before. Non-native pacu in Oklahoma waters are most likely the result of individuals buying them as pets, and releasing them when they outgrow their tank.”
Classic lazy American thing to do: buy an exotic pet, the thing gets to big and too troublesome to take care of, so then you release it into the wild so someone else can deal with it. Have people never heard of the term “invasive species?”
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation went on in their post to explain more about the Pacu that somehow made its way into an Oklahoma pond:
“These fish are generally harmless to humans, but the practice of dumping unwanted pets in waterways can be incredibly harmful to native wildlife. Pacu can reach sizes up to 3.5 feet and 88 pounds!
They are an exotic, invasive species that can cause damage to our local ecosystems. Anglers who catch Pacu in Oklahoma are asked to remove them from the watershed and contact their local game warden.”
They also posted a really funny thing on Twitter calling out the unknown perpetrator that released the fish into the water:
I don’t know about you, but those teeth are very unsettling to me…
Thankfully, the young fisherman helped to remove the fish from the water and acted as a hero for all the other fish and organisms who call that pond home.
The ODWC finished out their post on Facebook by thanking Charlie Clinton for his acts:
“As for Charlie, we’re told you can find him back at the pond on the grind for his next great catch. We wish you luck and tight lines, Charlie!”
