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A Piranha caught in N.C. river The new Amazon in the U.S. no but it's fishy

usatoday.com — A fisherman looking to catch a catfish for dinner instead reeled in a fish that flashed its teeth and bit his knife. Jerry Melton, 46, was fishing in the Catawba River last week when he caught what state wildlife officials later identified as a piranha, a South American carnivorous fish that lives in freshwater.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 5, 2007

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  • Aereo, on 10/11/2007, -4/+34Hey! Man? Sorry? For! Taking? All, Your. Punctuation? Keys!
  • YEMandy, on 10/11/2007, -2/+27"When Melton opened the fish's mouth with a pocket knife, he said the fish bit down and left an impression on the blade."

    Lets see a pic of the knife or it didn't happen.
  • Wildthing, on 10/11/2007, -1/+25Man South America has some scary fish. This thing and the candirú (which is the one that swims up your urethra) are enough to make me never want to go on a boat trip or in the water anywhere down there.
  • brianbb98, on 10/11/2007, -4/+21punctuation.
  • hrm114, on 10/11/2007, -3/+17The headline for this story is bad.
  • seanc6610, on 10/11/2007, -5/+15Holy *****. Can someone please teach whoever submitted this post how to use punctuation? Perhaps a few commas, a question mark, some capitalization rules, and we'd all be happier.
  • mandarin, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11Maybe he was using a plastic knife...
  • trixnfx, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10Well it's not SOUTH Carolina. That's one hint.
  • drwatson, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9As usual with these stories, that is NOT a Pirahna, it is a Pacu, they are vegetarians. They get very big quickly and people don't have an aquarium large enough for them, so they get tossed in a lake.
  • golfer931, on 10/11/2007, -3/+10Buried as inaccurate... it is a pacu not a piranha

    see for differences: http://www.geocities.com/heartland/prairie/5962/PiranhaORPacu.html
  • corejava2, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5introducing new species into a habitat is very bad for the ecosystem, if the piranha out competes other species it could really skrew things up (ie. your local fishes go bye bye)
  • Rfriaz, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6I think you should enjoy the horror at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candiru , not at the 404...
  • golfer931, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3it's not a piranha... it is a pacu (close but not the same)
  • MacGyver2210, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6Man, I don't think there's another place anywhere that they get so worked up over some missing punctuation...Yay Digg!
  • TheKricket, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3they have the internet in new zealand now?
  • KLowD9x, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Since you're from NZ, it's understandable.

    NC would be North Carolina. 12th state admitted to the union (part of the original 13)

    People in America believe everyone should know everything about them, but don't believe they should know anything about the world outside of America. Hence the comment from trixnfx.
  • Drkboarder, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2For the people afraid of Piranhas, watch Planet Earth's episode on fresh water. Sure, they're not to be messed with...but movies and other fiction stories have built them into something they're not.
  • ZWarren69, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4When I lived in NC, this same thing happened! Swear to god! Some dude released two piranhas into the water.
  • saggygrandma, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5It wasn't strong enough to bite through the fishing line?
  • Armitage2k, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Who cares about the impression made on the blade... does the fish TASTE good?
  • frodobaggins, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Pacu
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -4/+6I hope they weren't male and female :)
  • Nauthez, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5Enjoy the horror...
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candir%C3%BA
  • stinkfart, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Having kept and eating many piranhas and pacus I can tell you for sure the fish in this picture is a pacu.

    There was a duplicate story floating around that was blogspam more or less and had a completely different picture of a completely different species of fish (which was a piranha).

    The photo that the AP is publishing with this story, though, is no piranha.
  • GliTCH82, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2In all fairness, that mistake is only because most people on Digg ARE American, so it's easy to forget there's a world audience that doesn't get our little references.
  • stinkfart, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1So is the rest of the story.

    And it turns out it isn't even a true story.
  • seanc6610, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Ah Aereo beat me to it. I would've edited my original comment but something is really buggy with this comment system. After I refresh a page, my edit timer disappears and I'm stuck with whatever i wrote.
  • ortucis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1What a stupid and boring story.

    "Oh my god I caught a fish that bit my knife and I am now so scared that I will never fish again.. probably later when no one gives a ***** about this anymore."
  • in2deep, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Just to point out....I could not tell you if its a Piranha or a Pacu....but one thing for sure is that the fish in that pic has some big teeth and looks flippin mean!!!!!!
  • jackyyll, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Can't sleep, 404 will eat me!
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2This is not good at all. I hope they aren't spawning in the U.S.. Swimmers will be eaten or attacked way more than they already are by sharks and alligators.
  • stinkfart, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Buried as inaccurate.

    No this is not a real piranha. This is a pacu. The F&W officer doesn't know the difference between the two.

    These are the same guys that often confuse the native Bowfin with the exotic Snakehead.
  • Manuelmty, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1oh men i feel sick just to read this !
    http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=797
  • stinkfart, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1The same river system has non-native species of trout introduced to it every year by the state government. Those trout do more to damage the ecosystem than the single pacu that was released from an aquarium.
  • bubba9999, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Lee Majors to the rescue!
  • ronh, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1You are a cruel man...... but absolutely correct on this.
  • stinkfart, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1That fish being a pacu, yes. It tastes very good. Mind the small floating bones (it's not unlike eating a flounder in that sense)
  • golfer931, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Also having kept many piranhas and many species of piranhas for a number of years I also know for a fact this was no piranha. Don't be so quick to assume that someone would say the AP is wrong without being sure of it. I have the experience to know what I'm talking about, thanks.

    hooray for the real ignorant one
  • stinkfart, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1The hog ***** isn't everywhere. It's mostly in the Neuse basin downstream of Falls Lake outside of Wake County. The hog farms are primarily down east. The Catawba River is not part of the pig ***** basin.
  • TexasCanuck, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I live in a nice subdivision here in Sunnyvale, TX, and it really irks me when the rednecks come into our neighborhood, park their cars on the main street, and use our HOA paid-for ponds to go fishing for their dinner. YEEHAW... (I am *NOT* kidding either... 100% serious ! Drives me and the wife freaking crazy...)

    I've seriously considered putting a school of pirahna's into the pond to drive the rednecks away, but after a call to the local Petco, I found out that they are illegal here in TX, and subject to a $5000 fine per fish =(

    There goes that idea...

    Anyone know where I can buy carnivorous eels ? =)
  • Manuelmty, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1as long as there are no ill tempered sea bass ...
  • gijoel, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Good evening Mr Bond.
  • PowerMax, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1If you go swimming in the hog *****-infested waters of the rivers here in NC, you deserve to be eaten by a beast of a fish, or at least get a bad case of diarrhea. One of the two will most likely happen.
  • outdoorsports, on 02/12/2009, -0/+0Crazy, he got some items from http://www.baitnhook.net
  • djforms, on 06/18/2009, -0/+0This News - Just in time to kickoff a new movie due to release March 19th, 2010 called "Piranha 3D", directed by Alexander Aja. Find complete casting information, spy photos, and more on the still-in-filming movie at http://www.squidoo.com/piranha-3d
  • GliTCH82, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Survey says: Story's cool, move it to the front page, and no one gives a *****.
  • cstrohmeyer, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0As I suspected this turned out to be a Pacu, not a Piranha (based on the teeth as Pacus can certainly bite, but their teeth are more molar like)
    Also the media hype is un called for as neither a Pacu or Piranha would survive the winter here. This blog has more about this: http://fish-as-pets.blogspot.com/2007/07/piranha-caught-by-fisherman.html
  • oriondarkwood, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Good thing he wasn't fishing with his worm
  • kinerry, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Piranha are scavengers...so what's the big deal?
  • MacGyver2210, on 10/11/2007, -5/+4Given the wonderful contributions of NC to the gene pool of the world, I kinda hope they WERE Male and Female...
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