Testicle-Eating Fish Scare Men Out of Scandinavian Waters

Enjoying summer comes with numerous hazards: sun strokes, sun burns and even STDs if you’re not playing it safe. Unfortunately, guys in Sweden are being warned to be extra cautious if they’re going skinny-dipping in the Scandinavian waters of Oresund Sound because there’s a little flipper with a taste for testicles!

When fishermen reeled in a 21cm pacu, a relative of the notorious piranha, the Natural History Museum of Denmark put out this warning:

“Keep your swimwear on if you’re bathing in the Sound these days – maybe there are more out there”.

According to fish expert at the Danish museum, Henrik Carl, “The pacu is not normally dangerous to people but it has quite a serious bite, there have been incidents in other countries, such as Papua New Guinea where some men have had their testicles bitten off”.

“And its mouth is not so big, so of course it normally eats nuts, fruit, and small fish, but human testicles are just a natural target. It’s not normal to get your testicles bitten off, of course, but it can happen, especially now in Sweden.”

“They bite because they’re hungry, and testicles sit nicely in their mouths,” he explained.

Carl says that pacus have reportedly killed fishermen who have bled to death after losing their testicles. Although Carl is still 100% sure if there are any more pacu in the Scandinavian waters, the team at the museum aims to confirm if the fish is indeed a pacu using DNA testing.

The pacu is a native to South America and can grow up to 90 centimeters and weigh up to 25 kilograms. The pacu is also cheekily known as the “ball cutter”.