Fishing trip nets exotic fish

COLUMBUS, Ga. - When Marshall Berger reeled the strange silver and red fish from the Chattahoochee River last August, he knew it was far from normal.

It didn't look like any of the usual catfish, crappie and bass he catches on almost every fishing trip.

Actually, it reminded him more of the flesh-eating piranha he had caught on past excursions to Panama.

He wasn't off by much.

After keeping the fish in the freezer for six months, Berger got a positive identification this week from Auburn University professor of biology John Armbruster.

Armbruster identified the fish as a pacu - a vegetarian cousin of the piranha often sold by tropical fish dealers.

"I knew right when I brought it into the boat that it wasn't just a normal perch," said Berger, a high school suspension coordinator. "I had caught piranhas in Panama. I've even got one mounted. That's what it looked like to me."

Pacus are strikingly similar to the carnivorous South American piranhas that have become legendary for devouring anything in their paths.

But while flesh-eating piranhas have jagged, pointy teeth, pacus have flat teeth more suited for crushing seeds.

That was the telling sign Armbruster used to make the distinction.

Though rare, a handful of pacus have been caught in Georgia lakes and rivers each year for the past decade. Armbruster said pacus are commonly released by aquarium owners when the fish outgrow their tanks.

"It makes you wonder why they continue selling these fish," Armbruster said.

It is illegal to release any exotic species into the wild in Georgia and examples of problems caused by exotics have been thoroughly documented.

But Armbruster said pacus aren't likely to cause problems because of their vegetarian nature and their low tolerance to cold.

"There are a few breeding populations of pacus in the United States," Armbruster said. "But they're rare. The chances are pretty slim that these fish would make it through our winters."

Berger donated his fish to Columbus State University, where he is studying geography and environmental sciences. The fish will be added to the school's collection of rare fish.

"They said they don't have one, and I don't expect to catch another one," Berger said. "That's certainly the strangest thing I've ever caught from the river."