Girl Catches Fish with Human-Like Teeth on Worm

[WB Staff]

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]OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An 11-year-old girl has quite the fish tale: A rare pacu with human-like teeth chomped down on the worm at the end of her line while she was fishing with her grandparents and brother in an Oklahoma lake.

But Kennedy Smith isn't exaggerating when she describes her catch. Caddo County Game Warden Tyler Howser confirms that the fish was a pacu, a relative of the piranha that is native to South America and can grow up to 50 pounds (22 kilograms).

Kennedy's fish weighed about 1 pound (half a kilogram), according to Howser and Kennedy's grandmother Sandra Whaley.

Kennedy says she initially was "really excited" to have caught a fish Sunday in Fort Cobb Lake, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) southwest of Oklahoma City. She was shocked when the fish bit her grandmother, as Whaley removed the hook from its mouth.

"I was confused because I knew that fish with teeth are not normal. It was weird. They were human-like and that made it even weirder," Kennedy told The Associated Press Thursday.

Whaley said she suffered no ill-effects from the bite.
More info CBS News: https://www.wspa.com/news/girl-catches- ... 1328325589



Game Warden Info:
On July 22, 2018, Caddo County Game Wardens were notified of a very unique catch!
At approximately 9:00 a.m. Miss Kennedy Smith of Lindsay, OK caught a Pacu on a night crawler in Marina Cove at Ft. Cobb Lake. She was fishing with her Grandparents on this lucky day. Congrats to Kennedy on this unusual fish!

Pacu are closely related to the Piranha. Pacu unlike Piranha primarily feed on plant material but are considered omnivorous. Pacu are naturally found in freshwater lakes and waterways in South America. Pacu have been caught in a few fisheries in Oklahoma before. The introduction of the nonnative pacu into Oklahoma waters is most likely from individuals buying them as pets and releasing them when they outgrow the tank they were raised in. Pacu can reach sizes up to 3.5 feet and 88 pounds.

Anglers who catch Pacu in Oklahoma are asked to remove them from the watershed and contact their local game warden. They are an exotic, invasive species that can cause damage to our local ecosystems.