This pacu was found near Yuma, Arizona, in June 2006. Another one was found in New Jersey in June 2015 but the fish are native to South America.
PHOTOGRAPH BY YUMA SUN, JACOB LOPEZ/AP
By Brian Clark Howard, National Geographic
PUBLISHED
A relative of the piranhas with a mythical taste for human flesh was found in a New Jersey lake this weekend, setting off fears about the spread of invasive species.
The fish, thought to be a South American pacu, is known for its teeth, which bear an eerie resemblance to human teeth. Pacus primarily eat plants and are considered mostly harmless to people, despite their kinship with piranhas. But they do occasionally eat other fish and can potentially outcompete native species or spread parasites or disease. (See the scariest freshwater fish.)
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