Terrifying piranha: A creepy 13-inch-long (32cm) piranha with square human-like teeth has been pulled from a river in Russia, thousands of miles from its native waters.
The startling discovery was made last week by a local fisherman named Yuri, who reeled it in from the Black River of Kalitva in the village of Morozovka, in the Rososhansky district of the Voronezh region.
Yuri, who has over 20 years of fishing experience, was at first dumbfounded by the bizarre and freakishly-toothed creature. However, after consulting with the internet and the Department of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Voronezh Region, he learned it’s a kind of herbivorous piranha – a black paku often found in South America.
Biology professor Elena Zhemchuzhnikova explained that piranhas are found almost exclusively in South America, where they live in rivers, canals, floodplains, and lakes because they are not able to breed in salt water.
Zhemchuzhnikova guessed this piranha was released into the wild by an aquarium or private collector. While young piranhas can survive on ordinary fish food, adult piranhas require a more substantial meal of meat, fish, or seafood and so are often killed or disposed of by uninterested owners.
The Natural Resources and Ecology agency reportedly burned the weird fish for health and safety reasons.
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