KETTERING -- When you catch a fish, you don't expect the end of the line to have as many teeth as you do. But, that's what happened to a 14-year-old boy fishing at Delco Park in Kettering on Sunday.
Apparently, the boy was using a hot dog as bait when he reeled in a pacu, the cousin of a piranha. It is not a fish you would usually find at Delco Park Pond.
"I have been living in Kettering for 33 years and never seen anything like that!" said Carol Wilhelm. She was fishing with her grandson at the park on Monday. She said she is thankful they weren't out fishing on Sunday when the so-called "vegetarian piranha" was lurking the pond.
"That would be horrible. I wouldn't want to catch one of those. I would take it off my hook," said Wilhelm.
Officials from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in Dayton said although pacus have crushing jaw systems that can be harmful, they are not nearly as dangerous as piranhas. Luckily, they are herbivores and the pacu found in Delco Park was probably just a forgotten pet.
"It was probably just an aquatic fish that someone let go last fall or spring," said Justin Walters, Ohio wildlife official.
So, how rare is it for fish like this to be in our waters? Pacus are in the family of piranhas and are native to Brazil. They are usually found in warm, tropical waters. Scientists say the fish don't normally migrate, but they have been showing up in North American waters since the 1970's.
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