Posted on 06/27/2006 1:31:14 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
N.D. Woman Catches Piranha in Reservoir
JAMESTOWN, N.D.
State wildlife officials have a fish story with some teeth to it. Game warden supervisor Dick Knapp and district game warden Jason Scott responded to a call over the weekend of a woman catching what she thought was a piranha at the Casselton Reservoir.
The small fish with big, sharp teeth is native to the Amazon River in South America.
Knapp said the catch was confirmed by biologists. The state Game and Fish Department believes the four-inch-long red-bellied piranha probably came from someone's aquarium.
"It had to have been somebody's pet," said Greg Power, the state fisheries chief.
Introducing a foreign species to North Dakota waterways is illegal, but officials said they have no idea who put the piranha in the reservoir, which Power said is a small fishery on an unnamed creek that has been dammed. Knapp said the warm-water fish would not have survived the winter, anyway.
Power said the piranha likely was too small to have done any damage to other fish in the reservoir, which has trout, panfish and other species.
He said he has heard of piranha being caught in other states, but that this might be a first for North Dakota.
"We have had goldfish that were put in (lakes) ... but never a piranha," Power said.
An African swallow or a European one?
It feel out of a cloudburst. Well it could have. Charles Fort said so.
That is so cool!!! Pet piranhas would make the ultimate dinner conversation whenever you have guests over! Did your parents show the fish to their friends and guests before or after dinner? If it was before, how many had an appetite afterwards? Anyways...that's a great fish story ElkGroveDan.
lol
Is that in the new Algore movie too?
That's an excellent fish story ElkGroveDan! Having pet piranhas would be the ultimate conversation piece for dinner guests! BTW...did your parents show your pet fish to their guests before or after dinner? How many of the guests were hungry afterwards?
They are easily purchased in many tropical fish stores. I owned several of them years ago. They are not or at least were not illegal to import.
OMG!! We're DOOMED!!!
As far as I can recall that generation never did eat when they visited. They drank cocktails all night.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.