South American relative of piranha found in Georgia

MACON - Fisheries biologist Steve Schleiger had heard a world record bluegill was caught in a private pond in Macon. <br> <br> When he went to see it, Schleiger identified the fish as a 5-pound pacu a non-lethal relative of the piranha that is native to the Amazon basin and is sold in pet stores in the United States. <br> <br> The fish caught last week, believed to have been released illegally by an aquarium owner, is one of two pacu caught in Georgia during the past 10 days. The other from Lake Tobesofkee, just west of Macon was caught earlier this week. <br> <br> ``It was kind of funny because the guy who caught the fish in Macon thought sure he had the world record bluegill,&#39;&#39; Schleiger told the Ledger-Enquirer of Columbus. ``He went to weigh it and the scales he used were obviously a little off. They said it weighed 15 pounds. That would have more than tripled the old world record.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The pacu resembles its cousin, the piranha, when young. However, they have blunt teeth and feed on plankton and vegetable matter that falls into the water. Pacu grow up to 36 inches. <br> <br> At least 17 of them have been caught from Georgia lakes during the past 12 years. <br> <br> The most recent pacu discoveries come just two weeks after a substantial population of northern snakehead fish another popular aquarium species was found in a private lake in Maryland. <br> <br> Because pacu do not normally eat other fish and rarely survive the cold water temperatures of a Georgia winter, they don&#39;t pose the same threat as snakeheads. <br> <br> ``I think the real message from these findings is that people shouldn&#39;t release any kind of exotic species into Georgia waters,&#39;&#39; Schleiger said.