Lake Lou Yaeger’s superintendent Jim Caldwell brought the fish to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources after initially responding to a report that a piranha had been caught. The lab quickly identified it as a pacu. There are conflicting reports that a second pacu fish had been spotted shortly after.
The is how did a fish native to the Amazon basin end up in a small late in the middle of Illinois? Caldwell believes “they were dumped there and were most likely someone’s aquarium pet.”
Pacu fish are normally found in South American streams and rivers. However, a few small populations exist in the United States, and occasionally one of these odd creatures are found in ponds around America. In fact, almost 30 states have reported discovering a pacu in one of their bodies of water. Similar to piranhas, pacu fish can be dangerous, so when a pacu is found, it is usually killed or in some cases given to a local aquarium.
