State says mystery fish a piranha
Local biologist says exotic fish caught Saturday is another South American type.
BY MARIA NAGLE
Journal-Courier
IIn the opinion of Department of Natural Resources, the mystery fish caught at Lake Jacksonville is probably a red-bellied piranha.
A DNR biologist in Springfield came to that conclusion after reviewing photos of the fish taken earlier Monday by Conservation Police Officer Jamie Maul.
A key factor for the biologist were the photos of the fish’s teeth, which were pointed, a common characteristic of a piranha, Mr. Maul said. The biologist relied on just the photos and did not examine the fish carcass, he added.
The fish was reeled in by Jason Judd, 27, of Jacksonville about 9:30 p.m. Saturday. The fish is 15 inches long from nose to tail, Mr. Judd said, and about 2 inches wide.
Not knowing what kind of fish it was, he took it to the Jacksonville home of his friend, Waco Wyatt, an avid fisherman, hoping Mr. Wyatt could help him identify the fish. Mr. Wyatt has been preserving the fish in his deep freezer.
When Mr. Judd first saw the fish’s teeth, “My first thought was it had to be a piranha,” he said. “The bottom row was almost like human teeth. The top teeth were about like rose thorns.”
After reading about the DNR’s conclusion on the Journal-Courier’s Internet site (www.journal-courier.net), Scott Maruna, went to Mr. Wyatt’s home and examined the fish.
“It definitely is a pacu,” said Mr. Maruna, a science teacher for Routt Catholic High School who holds a B.S. degree in biology. Piranha have elongated jagged teeth, while pacu have shorter, almost human-like pointed teeth, Mr. Maruna said.
“The key is the arrangement of the teeth,” he said. Piranhas have a single row of sharp teeth, while pacus have multiple rows of teeth, Mr. Maruna explained.
“This specimen had only one row showing, but when I pulled back the flesh around the teeth on the upper part of the mouth, I found two and even more rows of teeth, making it impossible to be a piranha,” Mr. Maruna said.
Primarily vegetarian and fruit eating, pacus are predatory only to the smallest of minnows and live-bearing fish. They typically populate the same South American rivers that piranhas do, which are known for their aggressive appetite for meat and flesh.
“Regardless of whether it’s a piranha or a pacu, we don’t want it out there,” said Conservation Officer Maul, who said the DNR gets several reports every year of both kinds of fish.
“They’re both exotic. They both come form the Amazon. Both are commonly bought by people for their home aquariums, and both are illegal to turn loose into a public body of water,” he said.
While people may release fish into a lake or pond that they own, the fish must be indigenous to the state. The offense is a petty offense punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.
The fish is believed to have been in the lake for a very short period of time, because piranhas do not survive the winters.
The fish poses no danger to the public, because it appears someone released the fish into the lake, possibly after it became too big for an aquarium or when the person tired of having the fish as a pet, Mr. Maul said.
“The only threat would be if someone stuck his finger in the fish’s mouth,” he said.
The risk also is limited, because, as far as he knows, it’s a one-fish incident. “It’s not like in the movies, having a thousand piranhas attacking your flesh,” Mr. Maul said.
Mr. Wyatt contacted the Department of Natural Resources and also reported the mysterious catch by telephone to Jacksonville Parks and Lakes Superintendent about midnight Saturday.
“I think Bruce Surratt owes me an apology, because he basically didn’t believe me,” Mr. Wyatt said.
Mr. Surratt also told the Journal-Courier Sunday that he was “1,000 percent sure it’s not a piranha.”
After Mr. Maul went to Mr. Surratt’s office Monday morning and informed him that the mysterious fish was possibly a piranha, Mr. Surratt retracted the statement, saying, “Let that be a lesson. Nothing is 1,000 percent.”
Mr. Maul got out his digital camera and said, ‘Take a peek,’” Mr. Surratt said. “After 30 years here, I should not be surprised, but I am surprised.”
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