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freaky fish with human-like teeth caught in Texas

TYLER, Texas -- Late Tuesday afternoon, a fisherman hooked a fish he says he`s never seen before and lake officials are just as amazed: a 20-pound fish with what looks like human teeth.

Scott Curry has caught thousands of fish at Buffalo Springs Lake. He knew his catch was something special from the time he hooked it.

"It took a long time to (reel)in," he says. "I didn`t want to lose it. I was afraid line would break on it."

After reeling in the 20-pounder, Curry realized it wasn`t a typical catch. This one had teeth.

"I haven`t seen anything like it," he says.

"I`ve lived out here 36-years, and I`ve never seen a fish like that out here in my life," says Greg Thornton, General Manager of Buffalo Springs Lake.

On Wednesday, Texas Parks & Wildflife identified the unusual catch as a Pacu, a fish found in South America.

"Some one likely got rid of it out here," thinks Thornton.

A game warden has taken pictures and will try to identify it in the next few days.

When Curry caught the fish, he said he saw another one just like it. Lake officials have put a bounty on that, anyone catching it will get $100.

If you want to see the unusual fish, it can be seen in the spring pond at Buffalo Springs Lake.

Reader Comments

8 people have commented so far. add your comment

that fish is called a pacu and it mostly eats veggitation. so tell texans not to panic.
     - vanessa carver · picayune · Oct 18, 2006 @ 10:19am

One thousand characters?!?!, yeah right
     - yo mama · Israel · Mar 29, 2007 @ 6:17am

this is stupid "human teeth" LOL its a pacu
     - nadeem · elkhart indiana · Jun 1, 2007 @ 3:25pm

someone cook this fish and served it to me before i saw the teeth and it tasted fine until i saw the teeth. it's just a fish. i was told though that the guy who caught the fish had caught 5 of them in an Alabama lake in early July. Strange ha! I might never eat a dish without looking in the pot anymore. LOL
     - al · tn · Aug 30, 2007 @ 3:17pm

Only in America...that's a Pacu men, not a E.T...LOL
     - Ricardo · Povoa de Varzim, Portugal · Sep 26, 2007 @ 3:10am

that fish is a Pacu look it up on google there is many just like it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     - Laura blasutto · washington · Jan 17, 2008 @ 2:35pm

Of course, it's a Pacu! They were real popular down here about 10-15 years ago. We had one in a 55 gal tank and had to donate him to a large aquarium at a zoo when he could no longer turn around in his tank! The zoo aquarium that took him was a 2 hr. drive away. Most people around here just turn their Pacu and big cichlids loose in the ponds and creeks when they get tired of them or they get too big. I know it's a bad thing to do, but people don't know what to do when their fish outgrow their tanks! Maybe someone should start a Big Fish Rescue Aquarium and give them amnesty!
     - Terri Y · Lumberton, Texas, United States · Apr 24, 2008 @ 3:25am

its certainly a pacu my auntie has 2 a big 1 and a little one the big one has teeth just like it and thats certainly a pacu but wat u wuld need to know before sum one wuold het in da lake is to kno if it eats fish becus dey are vegetarians but they probably ate anouther fish and if so if so one stpped in da pond the pacu wuld attack if u get to close
     - williams · victorville,ca · Jul 18, 2009 @ 10:44am