Attack of the ‘willy fish’
The legendary candiru, or ‘willy fish’ as it sometimes less politely called, is known about well outside its native range in the freshwater rivers of the Amazon basin. These small catfish are parasites and normally live in the gills of very large catfishes, to which they’re attracted by the ammonia that is excreted by the fishes’ gills.
Unfortunately for bathers, gills aren’t the only things that can excrete streams of ammonia into water. Humans urinating while swimming also do the same. The tiny catfish home-in on the trickle of ammonia-rich wee and swim up the victim’s penis or urethra, locking themselves in place with a set of sharp hooks. Once there, they leave you in immense pain and try to dine on your blood.
Although infamous, “attacks” by these fish are actually not thought to be particularly common. We covered the first confirmed and documented case of the removal of one of these catfishes from a man’s penis. There’s also a video, and a dramatic reconstruction of the event, if you’re not too squeamish.
While candiru are normally small fish – an inch or two at most – the catfish removed in this case wasn’t a little one. It measured an eye-watering six inches in length and half an inch wide! Given the choice, I think I’d personally prefer to be stung by something instead…
Practical Fishkeeping magazine | Blog: 19 terrifying incidents involving fish
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