AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A fisherman caught a South American Piranha in a Dutch canal -- and then threw it back, local media reported Wednesday."Due to its bright red belly, I first thought it was a rock-bass," Patrick Scholte told daily De Telegraaf. A fellow angler was quick to point out it was a piranha.
Scholte, who made the catch in the northern Dutch town of Stadskanaal, photographed the fish and then returned it to the water.
Piranhas are warm water fish and can devour whole cows when hunting in packs. When a school of piranhas are in a feeding frenzy, the water appears to boil and churn red with blood. Scholte suspected an aquarium owner abandoned the fish.
