The Legend of the Candiru

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160104-does-the-candiru-fish-really-eat-human-penises

BBC

4 January 2016

Would the candiru fish really eat your genitals?

By Josh Gabbatiss

Of all the denizens of the Amazon basin, there is none more feared than the tiny fish known as the candiru. Since coming to the attention of science in the early 19th century, this creature has occupied the very darkest recesses of the popular imagination.

The reason for this is the candiru's supposed habit of entering the human penis, lodging itself in place with sharp barbs, and feasting on it from the inside – a horror story that is enough to keep your legs firmly crossed for days. […]

Testicle-eating Fish

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/sweden/10234986/Swedish-men-told-to-beware-testicle-munching-fish.html

Daily Telegraph [UK]

10 August 2013

Swedish men told to beware testicle-munching fish

By Hannah Strange

Experts have warned Swedish men to keep their swimming trunks on if taking a dip in a sound off the country's southern coast, after a South American fish known for attacking testicles was discovered in the area.

The alert came after a fisherman in the Oresund Sound last week retrieved a 21 centimetre pacu - a relative of the piranha that is most commonly found in the Amazon region.

"Keep your swimwear on if you're bathing in the Sound these days - maybe there are more out there!" cautioned the National History Museum in neighbouring Denmark. […]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130813-pacu-piranha-testicle-biting-fish-invasive-species/

National Geographic

13 August 2013

Fears of 'Testicle-Eating' Fish Overblown

Danish male swimmers, your testicles are (probably) safe.

Ker Than

Danish male swimmers, you can go back into the water now.

The recent capture of a fish species off the coast of Denmark that is rumored to sometimes mistake human male genitalia for nuts sparked fears of "testicle-eating fish" invading Scandinavian waters—and even led experts to caution men to keep their swimsuits well tied.

But the scientists say that their warning wasn't intended to be taken seriously, and that it's highly unlikely that swimmers will encounter a pacu, as the fish is called. […]

Giant Catfish Caught in Buggs Island Lake

http://www.newsleader.com/article/20110706/NEWS01/107060315/Buggs-Island-Lake-catfish-legend-grows-grows

News Leader [Staunton, VA]
6 July 2011

Buggs Island Lake catfish legend grows and grows

Written by
The Washington Post

MECKLENBURG COUNTY -- Talk to fishermen here and you will hear the legend of Buggs Island Lake: A Navy diver sent to recover the wreckage of a small plane encounters a fish the size of a man on the lake's bottom. He bolts to the surface and refuses to dip a toe into the waters again.

The yarn seemed as dubious as any other fish tale -- until two weeks ago. An angler hooked a 143-pound blue catfish in this reservoir along the Virginia-North Carolina border; it smashed the state record by more than 30 pounds and could be a world record. [...]

Anabas Causes Cancer

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/Social-Isssues/210806/Tien-Giang-rejects-fish-cancer-rumour-.html

Viet Nam News
28 April 2011

Tien Giang rejects fish cancer rumour

TIEN GIANG — Rumours that eating square-head anabas causes cancer were untruthful, said deputy director of the Tien Giang Aquaculture Department Phan Huu Hoi.

The rumours have caused great public concern in the southern province for the past 10 days, affecting the trade and consumption of the fish. [...]

Piranha Escape After Tennesse Flood

http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1638478/piranha-reported-loose-at-opry-mills-mall.jhtml

CMT News
5 May 2010

Piranha Reported Loose at Opry Mills Mall

A pair of piranha reportedly escaped from their aquarium during Nashville's recent flood. According to police reports quoted by television station WKRN, at least two flesh-eating piranha slipped out of the huge 150,000-gallon tank at Aquarium Restaurant in the Opry Mills mall and are swimming in the flooded hallways, where water remains waist-deep to neck-deep in spots. Piranha are freshwater fish, native to South America.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100505/DAVIDSON/100505063/1974/DAVIDSON/
The Tennessean
5 May 2010
Nashville Aquarium Restaurant: No piranha loose; most fish OK

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100506/BUSINESS01/5060328

The Tennessean
6 May 2010

Opry Mills still closed; piranha escape reports false

By Bonna Johnson • THE TENNESSEAN

The Opry Mills shopping center, known for its Bass Pro Shops and Rainforest Café, remains closed because of flooding. Reports that dangerous piranha escaped from the Aquarium Restaurant at the mall are not true, restaurant officials said. [...]

Security Scanners & Exploding Fish

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2009/03/25/column.hotline.sto

Herald Times [Bloomington, IN]
25 March 2009

Hotline: Exploding fish at Wal-Mart?

by Rebecca Robbins

Lift up your fish through ye mighty gates

QUESTION: Standing in the check out lane at Wal-Mart, I overheard a conversation between a cashier and a woman buying aquarium fish. The cashier told the woman not to take the fish through the scanner that deactivates the anti-theft devices, because it will cause the fish to explode and die. Apparently when leaving the store you should raise the fish over your head while walking through the scanners. Is there any truth to this? [...]

S.H., Bloomington

[Wal-Mart and the scanner manufacturer deny it.]

Man-eating Goonch (India)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/3163501/Mutant-fish-develops-a-taste-for-human-flesh-in-India.html

Daily Telegraph [UK]
9 October 2008

Mutant fish develops a taste for human flesh in India

A mutant breed of fish is believed to have killed a number of people in India, scientists have said.

By Lucy Cockcroft

The enormous goonch, a type of catfish, is said to have developed a taste for human flesh after feeding on corpses thrown into the river after funeral ceremonies.

Locals rumours have held for years that a mysterious monster lurks in the water.

But they think it has moved on from scavenging to targeting live bathers who swim in the Great Kali, which flows along the India-Nepal border. [...]

Can a Catfish Eat a Human?

http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/121472732577930.xml&coll=2

The Birmingham News [AL]
29 June 2008

Just another wild (cat)fish story

MIKE BOLTON
News staff writer

[...] The question, though, is could there really be a catfish in Alabama big enough to eat a human? [...]