Every once in awhile, someone catches a fish that doesn’t belong—an invasive species that hitched a ride into a new area on a boat or got too big for its owner’s fish tank and ended up back in the wild. Recently, someone caught an invasive species of note in a Texas lake. It’s notable because the fish has human-like teeth.
Pacu are freshwater fish native to South America, and they’re related to piranhas. Unlike piranhas with their sharp, pointy teeth, pacu have broad, flat teeth that look eerily like a human’s. While piranhas are carnivores that prey on other animals for food, pacu are omnivores that eat a lot of plant matter. Their molar-like chompers help them eat a wide variety of foods, but they’re not designed to catch live prey.
On the Facebook post from the Lake Meredith Aquatic & Wildlife Museum (LMAWM) announcing the rare find, a man commented and claimed his nephew, Wesley Nivens, was the person who caught the pacu at the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. Because pacu can grow quite large (up to 3 feet 6.5 inches long, according to LMAWM), pet owners sometimes dump these animals in local waterways when the fish outgrow their tanks.
Though you can’t see its teeth in this video, check out the invasive pacu here (scroll down for the teeth):
If you want to see those weird human teeth, check out this YouTube video:
Have you ever heard of a fish with human-like teeth?