Testicle biting exotic fish scares families around US lake

London, July 8 (ANI): Families are staying out of a popular Illinois lake after the discovery of the exotic pacu fish - infamous for killing men by ripping off their testicles.

Families reported being wary of entering the waters of Lake Lou Yaeger after hearing that a pacu was caught by a fisherman on June 7 and that another one had been spotted two weeks later, the Daily Mail reported.

Known in Papua New Guinea as "The Ball Cutter," the pacu has reportedly been responsible for the deaths of two fishermen in the Pacific nation, who died from blood loss after the fish had bitten off their testicles.

Initially thought to be a piranha, the fish caught in June was later confirmed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to be a pacu.

Although part of the same family, the pacu has thicker, sturdier teeth that resemble human ones, unlike the piranha, which is renowned for its deadly serrated incisors.

"I just got told about it and I am freaked," mother-of-four Deanne Kirkwood told KDSK in Illinois.

"And now, I am not so sure I want to go in."

The pacu that are living now in Lake Lou Yaeger were most likely dumped there illegally, but the local authorities were keen to dispel any fears.

"It is a little scary seeing a fish with teeth," lake superintendent Jim Cadwell said.

"They are not native to this lake or this area.

"The pacu, they are in the same family as piranha's, they are related, but piranha's have very jagged teeth, but pacu's have teeth very similar to humans. Their main diet is nuts, leaves, aquatic vegetation, snails. If their food supply is limited they will eat other fish," he added. (ANI)