A few years ago I went snorkeling in a pair of crystal-clear streams in southwestern Brazil, in the Pantanal region. I got a close look at a toothy caiman (related to an alligator) and many species of fish, some brightly colored.
Plying the cool, clear waters of the Olho d’Agua (“eyes of water”) and Rio da Prata (“silver river”) were lots of pacu, which are prized by local indigenous people and fishermen for their meat. In fact, after my dip I enjoyed a dinner of fried pacu.
My guide told me that pacus are vegetarians, though they are related to piranhas, and do bare some resemblance, though pacus tend to be larger and can reach up to 55 pounds. Pacus also have teeth that bare a striking resemblance to human beings, as the above photo from the National Geographic Channel show Hooked demonstrates.
My guide mentioned that pacus dine on aquatic plants, snails, and nuts, which is why they have strong teeth…but he did not mention that some say they can inflict painful bites on people. While snorkeling, I marveled at the size of the pacus but didn’t fear them, instead keeping an eye out for caiman and anaconda. (No, they don’t have candiru in that part of Brazil. I asked.)
Pacus and piranahs both belong to the Characiformes order, like tetras. The name pacu is typically applied to a group of nine genera that share similar characteristics in body, diet, and behavior.
Pacu in America
This week, Huffington Post reported that a pacu was caught in Illinois, far north of its South American range.
The site reported, “Responding to a report that a fisherman had reeled in a piranha on June 7, lake superintendent Jim Caldwell brought the fish to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, where it was identified as a pacu. Some reports say another pacu was seen a couple of weeks later.”
Huffington Post points to a story in the British Metro that claims pacu are known as “ball cutters” in Papua New Guinea. The fish were introduced there in 1994 to restock rivers that had been fished out of local species, but they are now invasive.
Metro claims two men were castrated, and killed, by pacus in New Guinea, although their source heard it second hand. The paper also called the large fish a “predator,” though it isn’t. A search online didn’t turn up any verifiable media reports of such deaths, so this reporter suggests taking that claim with a grain of salt.
In the Pantanal, locals said pacu are harmless.
No one is sure how the pacu ended up in Illinois, though game officials have said it was probably released from captivity.
Check out these photos I took of the fish in its native habitat in Brazil:
Brian Clark Howard is an Environment Writer and Editor at National Geographic News. He previously served as an editor for TheDailyGreen.com and E/The Environmental Magazine, and has written for TheAtlantic.com, FastCompany.com, PopularMechanics.com, Yahoo!, MSN, Miller-McCune and elsewhere. He is the co-author of six books, including Geothermal HVAC, Green Lighting and Build Your Own Small Wind Power System.