A child catches an invasive species of fish in Sacramento County

Jayden Fish Kessler, 10, went fishing Sunday with his family in Sacramento County, but what he caught was beyond his imagination.

Fish Kessler was in Dry Creek, north of Antelope where he lives, when something in the water caught his fishing line.

“I took it out of the water, spun it around and took it out. I thought it was a giant bluegill,” Fish Kessler said.

What he caught was a large fish with teeth. This led his family to believe he had caught a piranha.

“I was downstream so I couldn’t see, so I ran down, and I was like, ‘That’s a piranha!'” 10-year-old Connor McKeel said. “I was like, ‘What the hell?'” 10-year-old Connor McKeel said.

KCRA showed 3 photos of the catch to Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. He said it was difficult to determine for sure what the fish was, especially without close-up shots of it and without experts seeing the animal, because the children threw the fish back into the water. But Foy made an educated guess.

“The highest probability is that it’s not a piranha, it’s a fish that looks a lot like a piranha. It’s called a pacu,” Foy said.

Pacos are often confused with piranhas because they both have teeth, Foy said. But the big difference is that piranhas have sharp teeth, and pacos have teeth that resemble human teeth. Piranhas are also classified as a prohibited species in California, meaning they cannot be kept without a permit. Pacus, native to South America, are a popular aquarium fish that can be sold in exotic pet stores. But unfortunately, bacus sometimes end up in California waterways because their owners will get rid of them, Foy said. This is not good for the fish that are supposed to be here, he said.

“Anytime you introduce an exotic species, they may fit into our environment and really thrive, and when that happens, they tend to outcompete native fisheries,” Foy said. “This could disrupt the original aquatic ecosystem.”

If someone encounters a fish like a piranha, they should contact the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Foy said.

“If they have a fish that they think is a piranha, don’t throw it back. We want to take a look at that,” Foy said. “They can take some detailed, close-up pictures of the fish. In fact, open the mouth and take very detailed pictures of the teeth, and this would help us distinguish between pacu and piranha.

Foy also mentioned that transporting live fish is against the law, so you should call the experts.