WIREDGOV

Environment Agency fisheries specialists are amazed after finding an extremely rare killer fish in the East Okement tributary of the River Torridge in Devon.

A dead piranha fish was spotted during a sampling trip on the river while Agency staff Bob Collett, Dave Hoskin and Eddie Stevens were preparing to carry out a survey using electric fishing equipment.

At 35cm long, the Piranha is commonly found within the Amazon River basin, and is the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world, infamous for its razor sharp teeth. The piranha have a reputation as a fearless fish who hunt their prey in ferocious packs.

Fish species which the team would commonly expect to find within the river include Salmon, Brown Trout and possibly other species such as Bullheads, Stone loach and Minnow.

‘What we actually discovered was something we would not expect to find in our wildest dreams. We could hardly believe our eyes,’ said Eddie Stevens, from the Environment Agency.

‘After completing 20 metres of the survey a large tail emerged from the undercut bank on the far side of the river. Our first thought was that a sea trout had become lodged in amongst the rocks and debris collected under the bank. But when it was removed from the river we were speechless to find it was a piranha.’

An autopsy found that the fish had been eating sweet corn which proved that it had been kept as a domestic pet.

In shoals the piranha ambushes its prey, stripping the flesh of large animals such as Anaconda or even Jaguar within minutes. They have also been known to attack humans devouring flesh and leaving no trace. 

The average size of the Red Bellied Piranha Pygocentrus Natteren is 15-20 cm making the fish found on the East Okement an exceptional size. Piranhas are found only in the Amazon basin, in the Orinoco, and in rivers of the Guyanas.

‘I would say the piranha was most likely to have been placed in the river once the fish became to large for its tank, and was found dead as the fish could not tolerate the conditions in the water. Illegal fish movements like this can have a devastating affect on the natural environment,’ added Dave Hoskin, an Environmental Monitoring Officer.