Can you help me Identify this fish? Definately not native.

[BASSclary]

Today while fishing my home waters (Curtis Lake, Stafford VA) A family was just blue-gill fishing on the pier right next to ours, and then the dad caught a big, we-dont-know-what-the-h*ll it is fish. Do any of you know what kind of fish this is?

Whatever it is, its eating pretty darn well.

It sort of had bone teeth. Also it has nostrils??!

Sorry for bad quality pics, I only had my cell phone.

Please help.

If I had to guess this fish looks South American in my eyes. :-?

[Bassnajr]

Looks like a salt water fish???

Nice colors!!!!

[SuskyDude]

Pacu

[brushhoggin]

weird a$$ human teeth.

[BASSclary]

Pacu

I just googled it and man do they get huge!!! ;D What do they eat if you know? Grass or fish?

[Bassnajr]

God bless you!!

Cover your mouth next time!! ;D

[BASSclary]

weird . human teeth.

Must be a fish native to West Virginia !! ;D

[gobig]

Did you eat it? In Brazil they get good money for them in the fish market. Supposed to be really good eating.

[BASSclary]

Did you eat it? In Brazil they get good money for them in the fish market. Supposed to be really good eating.

No, the man who caught it threw it back.

[KYntucky Warmouth]

yep....Pacu

[LoudounFisher]

Must've been released recently at close to that size.  I can't imagine one surviving the winter.

[BASSclary]

Must've been released recently at close to that size. I can't imagine one surviving the winter.

Its interesting because alot of the smaller lakes I fish around here, people put non-native fish in. In Big Lake Arrowhead (a residential only lake) somebody released Piranhas in it. I know because i've caught one.

I wouldn't be supprised if Lake Anna had bull sharks.

[Casca]

we get these in the ponds i fish occasionally. they're a (pacu)common aquarium fish,they'll get huge if they have the space to grow.too big sometimes,so they get dumped into the nearest pond.

[ShaneK1990]

weird . human teeth.

Must be a fish native to West Virginia !! ;D

I resent that! lol

[bass or bass ?]

Yep, Pacu. They are imported for the aquarium trade and released by their owners when they get too big. The Arizona record is 22 pounds.

[Beastie Bass]

Yes, you have a red-bellied pacu here! Sweet, if you were fishing in Brazil! LOL how do some people release non-native species and not even think about it? Piranhas too, huh? Crazy, I get excited catching catfish while bassin. I might poop my pants if I caught a piranha.

[Bobby Uhrig]

Pacu/   Craw

[florida strain]

Red Bell Pacu, cousin to the Piranha . Sold in aquarium stores they are fast growers and aggressive feeders. People release them into the wild because they very quickly overgrow their fish tanks and eat the other species.

[Nine Miler]

A guy caught one in       Lake St. Clair a few years ago. 

www.clickondetroit.com/news/13929662/detail.html

[gotarheelz14]

Down here in University Lake, Chapel Hill, NC some guys ended up catching four in the local reservoir. None of them have been caught since then though. They didn't survive the winter as it was stated earlier in the thread...

[Raul]

Be thankful they won 't survive the winter, farther to the south, oh yeah baby, they survive.

Releasing non native fish is a big NO-NO, that 's how snakeheads ended up populating waters where they are not supposed to be. Down here the comercial fishermen of Lake Infiernillo in Michoacán have a big problem with common plecos ( they destroy the nets when caught, plus they eat all the algae ).

[bass or bass ?]

They survive the winters here in Arizona. This is probably their range limit as it can get quite cold at night, however the water stays at a temperature where they manage to survive. As I stated, the state record weight for pacu here is 22 pounds.