After catching a fish with teeth in an Illinois subdivision, Mark Dill and his 10-year-old son were certain they had found a piranha.
What they caught was a close cousin, the pacu, an aquarium fish sold in many pet stores. These fish look like piranhas, but grow much larger and have two rows of square teeth, unlike the piranha, which has one row of pointed teeth.
The fish was likely released into the wild once it got too big for some one's home aquarium.
The illegal release of fish into public waterways can be dangerous to current ecosystems because the fish can introduce new parasites and foreign diseases. Other species could be in danger if the "foreign" fish starts to eat the natives.
The best solution is to call your local store or check with an aquarium society and find someone to take it off your hands. Better yet, research a fish before adding it to your aquarium to find out how big it gets and how much trouble it can cause you.
