Piranhas? Yikes!

GermanG

GermanG

Piney
Apr 2, 2005
1,144
479
Little Egg Harbor
Looks like I have to find a new place to take my black lab swimming! It seems some guy was fishing with his son at Stafford Forge and caught several fish he couldn't ID. He went back a second time and caught another one, this time keeping it and bringing it to a taxidermist. The taxidermist contacted the local conservation officer to ID the fish, who then consulted with a few state biologists. From the pictures, one thought is was a pacu (feeds on vegetation) and the other thought it was a piranha (we know what they eat). The difference seems to be in the tooth type, with the pacu having teeth more suited for grinding than tearing. The fisherman added that the fish he caught all had very sharp teeth.

This info comes from the 7/18/07 Ocean County Observer, including a pic of the fish. I apologize for not posting a link to the article. When it comes to computers,I'm one of the ones they refer to on that "so easy a caveman can do it" commercial.
 
Sue Gremlin

Sue Gremlin

Piney
Sep 13, 2005
1,286
245
61
Vicksburg, Michigan
Well slap me and call me Shirley. Judging from the shape of the anal fin, that looks like a piranha. The pacu has an anal fin that's more wavey.
That's happened before, I recall a man catching one in the Delaware River in Bordentown about 15 years ago. They're sold regularly as pets to any schmuck who wants one. I had one myself that lived in the tank in my lab. His name was Boney and he ate liver from a pair of tweezers.
I digress. It sounds like they may actually be colonizing. That's alarming.
 
woodjin

woodjin

Piney
Nov 8, 2004
4,342
328
Near Mt. Misery
I also had a piranha when I was a kid. His name was Pete (creative huh?). He was extremely aggressive and would hurl himself out of the tank (which eventually led to his demise). Anyway, the thought of piranha in Stafford forge or anywhere else in the pine barrens is very disturbing. I can't imagine what they are doing to the ecosystem. Stafford forge is one of the few bogs where you can regularly catch bass.

Jeff
 
davensj

davensj

Explorer
Apr 8, 2004
148
0
The Real South Jersey
Well it’s not a great picture but I would say it’s a Red Belly Pacu. I used to raise red Belly Piranha`s (22 at one point). Red belly piranhas have a red anal fin and don’t have a solid black tail, Piranha have a silver strip top to bottom in the middle of there tail. Red belly`s only get to 10-11 inches, a 2 lb. red belly piranha would be one big fish. And like I said, it’s not a good picture to go by.
 
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