The Pacu fish

pacu fish

PACU FISH

Pacu is actually a common name for numerous different fish species that are related to piranhas. Pacus are vegetarian fishes that are traditionally found in the major river systems of South
America. They look a bit like a piranha, but they’re usually a lot larger than your average piranha. So what’s so interesting about these fish, they look pretty uninspiring- right? WRONG.

Peering into the chomping jaws of these fish will reveal their totally bizarre set of gnashers that look scarily like human teeth. They have these teeth because they normally feed on hard things like nuts and seeds which is why they have been nicknamed nutcracker fish, but a few joke articles came out stating they were also “testicle-biting” fish, as they supposedly left men in Papua New Guinea castrated after they took a shine to their crown jewels. After one was caught in Sweden, a fish expert Henrik Carl joked in a news article “They bite because they’re hungry, and testicles sit nicely in their mouth,” but it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, so don’t worry- they won’t actually eat your knackers, they’re safe around these guys.

Original Article on Scienceplaza