PIRANHA SOUP

Newspaper and Television accounts of piranhas being caught in non-native waters.

by Frank Magallanes

In most cases television or newspaper reporters do not retract the story or do a follow up. This leaves the piranha with bad publicity and wildlife officials unchallenged to promulgate new prohibited species laws. All based on bad science and public fear. Please do not release unwanted pet fish, especially pacus!

• August 20, 200 - Pacu caught at St. Clair Shores, MI. "They told me I caught a piranha and then they said, 'Congratulations, because you will probably never catch something like this again,'" said Davison, who works for a lawn care service.

• August 1, 2007 - Boy hooks piranha impostor in Hercules lake By Luke Stangel Contra Costa Times

• July 25, 2007 - Relative of Piranha caught in Duncan Pond? By Dianne Derby, News Channel 7 South Carolina.

• July 12, 2007 - North Carolina Wildlife officials revise piranha ID to pacu. Wildlife official stated he correctly ID the pacu and did not say it was a piranha. Newspaper retracts story with correction July 14..

• July 2, 2007 -  North Carolina (link has been removed, see story above) (See Fox news below for original story) man captures a pacu identified as a piranha by wildlife authorities. Further aggravating the wrong ID, Fox News Science Team is calling this fish a Serrasalmus rhombeus.

• December 20, 2006- Texas Official get it wrong on Piranha Identification. Rebuttal: David M. Schleser rebuttal to Texas Official wrong ID.

RETURN HOME OR USE YOUR BACKSPACE

 

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UPDATED: 08/22/2007