Piranhas, the vicious tropical freshwater South American fish, have been sighted in a water reservoir in Rybnik, southern Poland.
These voraciously carnivorous fish can grow to more then 30 centimeters in length and weigh over two kilograms. Amateurs fishing in the reservoir have so far caught several such specimens.
“It was about 30 centimeters long, had big, sharp teeth on the lower jaw, a little bit like a human - on the upper jaw it had fewer teeth,” one man told Polish Radio.
The exotic fish were most likely placed in the Rybnik reservoir by an aquarist – a biologist from the Silesian University dr Miroslaw Nakonieczny says. Someone must have bought small piranhas for their fish tank and when they grew up, decided to dump them into the reservoir, he explains.
The Rybnik reservoir offers ideal conditions for these tropical fish to live thanks to regular discharges of warm water by a nearby hydro-electric power station. They can even survive the winter, unless it is extremely harsh.
People relaxing at the Rybnik reservoir say they are not scared by the presence of the carnivorous fish but prefer to take precautions. (kk)
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