Scandinavian skinny-dippers warned of testicle-biting fish

[AdamSmith]

Yikes!

Scandinavian skinny-dippers warned of testicle-biting fish

By Leslie Holland, CNN

updated 12:07 PM EDT, Sun August 11, 2013

The Pacu's large teeth aren't as sharp as a piranha's but are "fully capable" of severing fishing lines and fingers. Happy swimming!

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• A fish native to South America has been discovered in Scandinavian waters
• The fish has been known to mistake testicles for nuts, Danish museum says
• Male swimmers in the strait of Oresund are being warned to wear swimsuits

(CNN) -- Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, as the saying goes, male skinny-dippers in Scandinavia are being warned about a fish infamous for munching on testicles.

Yes, you read that right.

The Pacu, native to South America, was found by a fisherman in the Danish/Swedish strait of Oresund, according to experts at the Natural History Museum of Denmark.

Though the fish has big teeth and looks menacing, it is generally known as a friendly cousin of the piranha. The Pacu's large teeth aren't as sharp as the piranha's but are "fully capable" of severing fishing lines and fingers, the museum's experts said. Oh yeah, and the Pacu is vegetarian, unlike it's meat-eating cousin.

So why should swimmers beware? Pacu fish love crushing nuts with their powerful jaws and sometimes can mistake the male reproductive organs for their favorite snack.

Just how the exotic fish ended up in Scandinavian waters is a bit of a mystery, the museum said.

"Amateur aquarium owners and fish farmers are "the usual suspects" when we meet fish where they do not belong," said the museum's Peter Rask Moller.

Museum experts said they are going to perform a genetic examination on the Pacu found in the fisherman's nets to learn more about the fish.

Meantime, the advice of the museum's experts is this: "Anyone choosing to bathe in the Oresund these days had best keep their swimsuits well tied."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/10/world/europe/scandanavia-swim-warning/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[RA1]

Perhaps some US citizens from New England or thereabouts or Northern European citizens might swim in these waters but not this Southerner, with or without a swimming suit.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest NCBored]

Perhaps some US citizens from New England or thereabouts or Northern European citizens might swim in these waters but not this Southerner, with or without a swimming suit.

Best regards,

RA1

Considering the probably water temperatures, I don't think anything of mine would be dangling!

[AdamSmith]

Warning over testicle-biting fish in Denmark? It's all wet

By Melissa Gray, CNN

updated 3:41 PM EDT, Fri August 16, 2013

• A Danish professor said a South American fish was found in Danish waters
• He said the fish may attack male private parts, but now he says it was a joke
• A fish expert says the fish are vegetarian and don't swim in saltwater
• There is no record of them attacking humans, the expert says

(CNN) -- It is safe to go back into the water again -- at least in Scandinavia.

A warning over the weekend for male swimmers off the coast of Denmark and Sweden to protect their private parts because of a testicle-munching fish appears to have been a joke that got out of hand.

After a Danish fisherman caught a South American pacu among his eels and perch this month, a professor at the Copenhagen Museum of Natural History told men to be careful because the fish sometimes mistake male reproductive organs for tree nuts, one of their favorite foods.

"Anyone choosing to bathe in the Oresund these days had best keep their swimsuits well tied," Professor Peter Rask Moller said in a Saturday news release about the fish discovery in the strait separating Denmark and Sweden.

Wednesday, however, Moller said he was just joking and never meant for his warning to get so much publicity.

"We did say that we recommend men to keep their swimsuits tied up until we know if there are more pacus out there in our waters," Moller told CNN by e-mail. "Of course, this is half a joke since it is very unlikely that you would actually meet one here and that it would bite you. It's up to people themselves how careful they want to be. I'll keep my shorts on, though."

Finding a pacu, a close relative of the piranha normally found in South America, is unusual so far north. Moller said it was likely dumped in the strait by an amateur aquarium owner or fish farmer.

William Fink, a piranha researcher at the University of Michigan who is also curator of fishes at the school's Museum of Zoology, poured water on the pacu warning. For one thing, he said, pacus are vegetarian -- and there's no record of them attacking a human.

"They're fruit eaters. Those big crushing teeth they have is for crushing seeds," he said.

Pacus tend to swim under fruiting trees during high water, waiting for the trees to drop their fruit, seeds and nuts, Fink said. The fish then swim to the surface to eat the tasty morsels.

In fact, Fink said, that's how fishermen catch them: by putting a piece of fruit on the end of a line and letting it float in the water. Pacus swim up to grab it and then get caught.

"The nuts that they're eating, the fruits that they're eating, are splashing down from above, and humans don't act like that when they're swimming," Fink said.

And unlike piranhas, which have rigid, razor-sharp interlocking teeth, pacus have teeth that resemble human molars and fit together in a similar bite, Fink said. The pacus use those teeth to crush their food, not to rip it apart -- or off.

He speculated that the pacu found in Denmark was probably released shortly before it was found because pacu species can't survive in either saltwater or chilly temperatures.

"It's just too cold for pacus to be living there. They certainly wouldn't make it through the winter," or even past October, he said.

CNN was among numerous news outlets around the world that reported the Danish news release over the weekend, focusing on the special warning for male swimmers.

Moller said he only meant to publicize the surprise discovery of a pacu in the Baltic and to advise the public that the fish can be invasive and possibly dangerous.

"The story about the 'nuts' was never meant to be the headline. But it certainly got people's attention," Moller told CNN. "I'm sorry if it has caused you any trouble. It was a bit of a joke, but I still will keep my swimsuits tied up, and I will never swim in an aquarium with these fishes."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/10/world/europe/scandanavia-swim-warning/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2