Piranha in Indiana

A young man fishing in Lafayette, Indiana hooked himself a piranha. It was a big one too: 13 inches long and weighing in at 2.5 pounds.

The 21-year-old Lafayette man said he had no idea what kind of fish it was at first.

 “My dad actually stuck his thumb in its mouth, because we didn’t know what it was,” Asbury said. “It bit down on him and he said, ‘It’s got teeth...’ ”

(Indiana Department of Natural Resources biologist Dean Zimmerman) expects this is an isolated case, probably of someone dumping their pet in the river.

"Lafayette man catches piranha in Wabash"

Previously:

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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dculberson

Yeah, I was going to talk about the Pacu thing, too. Because, get this: If it had been a Piranha and the dad stuck his thumb all the way in its mouth, he would not have said thumb any more. Or at least the flesh would be severely abraded, to the point of likely amputation. He wouldn’t be saying “This thing’s got teeth,” he’d be saying “ahhhh nooooo helllllllp!!!”
Anonymous

Piranha bite looks like letter U made with tiny needles.
Single bite is harmless.
geobarefoot

I was just searching for an article about a pacu that was fished out of a nearby reservoir a few years back when I stumbled across this U.S. distribution map. It might surprise you.
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=427
dorkhero

“(Indiana Department of Natural Resources biologist Dean Zimmerman) expects this is an isolated case, probably of someone dumping their pet in the river.”

You hope…
Boba Fett Diop

Indiana just got a whole lot more exciting.
Anonymous

The “It must have been someone’s pet” line is about as believable as “Routine Training Mission”.

It’s like the FIRST ones were pets.

The Indiana DNR guys are worried that it will cause a hit to tourism if people know.

Pirahna have been spotted and caught in neighboring Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, and several other traditionally temperate climate states.
jimh

@#2: Agreed.
Having grown up in Indiana, I can only say that this was the stuff of a young boy’s wildest imagination. Piranha in the creek! Awesome!
Anonymous

If he stuck his finger is the mouth of a piranha, he would have a chunk bitten off. That looks something like this http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=1034
Looks like this is a harmless pacu. Also the large size indicates that it is a pacu, Piranha raised in captivity rarely get that large.
Jason Rizos

*Sigh* Call me when one skeletalizes a Hoosier.
knodi

Great. Now I guess we have to bomb the amazon. As if we didn’t have enough things to bomb already.
SKR

This happened once in my hometown in Ohio, except that it was a small lake and not a stream. As far as I know, the piranha can’t make it through the winter in the area so it is most likely a pet release.
monkey_pirate

At what point does “sticking your finger in the mouth” become essential to the animal identification process?

I never read the manual, so someone, please tell me. This is vital information.
kc0bbq

@21 – That map doesn’t establish surviving populations, though. Over most of the US the pacu can’t survive the winter.
imcampos

This is actually very serious. I believe this fish has no natural predator in US rivers, and its proliferation can be devastating.
Pete Hoffman

That is a bit big for a Red-Bellied Piranha…

More likely, it’s a Red Pacu, omnivorous cousin of the Piranha. These things are sold by irresponsible pet stores to people when they are the size of a quarter…thing is, they will outgrow pretty much ANY tank you put them into. As such, this certainly wouldn’t be the first time someone would find one.

They have teeth, as well, that would hurt if they chomped down. Their teeth are more rounded than a Piranha’s…if it was a Piranha, I’d expect the story to mention that the guy who offered his finger to it needed stitches…
vonnegutlives

Awesome, Lafayette mentioned on Boing Boing! (I lived there for 9 years – nice college town.)
zyodei

asdf
Jason Rizos

@#9

Perhaps there is some other terrifying Amazonian creature we could release into Indiana to help keep their population in check?

But yeah, habitat changes due to global warming could make this a reality in more Southern ecosystems.
mwschmeer

I’d be more worrid if the candiru was found.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candiru

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2288/can-the-candir-fish-swim-upstream-into-your-urethra-revisited

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/piranha038/candiru.html
mwschmeer

“worried” not “worrid”. damn.
Anonymous

Indiana is becoming very exciting, in case you missed this. 6 foot alligator, not all that far from this story.

http://www.chestertontribune.com/Environment/alligator_shot_in_jasper_county.htm
Anonymous

we had one found in Po river, northern italy, just 3 days ago

http://www.corriere.it/cronache/09_agosto_23/piranha_pescato_po_7eda0db6-8fe1-11de-ab60-00144f02aabc.shtml

global piranha epidemic ?
Boba Fett Diop

Wait until they start finding candiru in Michigan.
Anonymous

@monkey pirate

He probably stuck his finger in the mouth not to identify but simply to hold (possibly during hook removal) in the more or less traditional manner not expecting there to be teeth and thus exclaiming as such upon their discovery
Anonymous

If I remember correctly, the last guy who caught a piranha in Griffy Lake (a Hoosier locale), reported it the the DNR. Then, he cooked the puppy up and ate it. Doesn’t sound like the Lafayette guy had that kind of follow-through.
proto

Sheesh, everyone always focuses on the negative!

What they fail to mention is that the piranha is a tasty fish — delicious, actually.

And, given their predilections, very easy to catch!
nanuq

“(Indiana Department of Natural Resources biologist Dean Zimmerman) expects this is an isolated case, probably of someone dumping their pet in the river.”

While poor alligators just get flushed into sewers. Species prejudice at work.
TikiHead

My aquarium-expert friend says it is a Pacu, a harmless Piranha look alike. They are very common for large aquarium owners to have, so apparently someone dumped this guy.
Beanolini

#18, Keith:

Reminds me of the story a few months back about Boa constrictors. A few escaped from a pet store in Florida during hurricane Katrina. Now, their descendants are spread across Florida, Alabama and into southern Georgia

Are you sure you’re not confusing this with the long-established Burmese pythons in Florida?

Although various reptiles escaped during Katrina, Boas’ slow reproduction rates make it extremely unlikely that they’d have spread to Alabama & Georgia in the few years since.
Boba Fett Diop

Great, now all the Piranha are going to start wearing signs that say “I’m really just a Pacu.”
Anonymous

That’s a Pacu. Pacus are herbivorous. You can buy them for your aquarium, but they get very big, which is why people often dump them in rivers, it seems. It really doesn’t look that much like a piranha.
Keith

Reminds me of the story a few months back about Boa constrictors. A few escaped from a pet store in Florida during hurricane Katrina. Now, their descendants are spread across Florida, Alabama and into southern Georgia. As global warming makes these areas more tropical, they boas will continue to spread.
kc0bbq

It’s pretty obvious from the picture that it’s not a piranha. Pacu identification is correct, the teeth are nowhere near large enough to be a piranha. Same family, but then again so is a neon tetra. The Oregon Piranha & Exotic Fish Exhibit archive website has pictures of the teeth of both fish, it only takes a second to tell the difference.

Very few of these turn out to be piranha, but you can’t expect reporters to actually do any work and contact someone who would know.

Don’t release your aquarium fish, people, and don’t buy a pacu unless you have a 300 gallon or larger tank.