Oklahoma Girl Catches A Fish With Human Teeth

A bizarre fish was caught by a girl in Oklahoma. Although the fish has been identified, its catch was still surprising and caught Kennedy Smith and her grandmother off guard.

Kennedy Smith, who is 11 years old, was on a fishing trip at Fort Cobb Lake with her grandparents and brother on Sunday and got “really excited” when she hooked the fish on her line, she told The Associated Press. Smith was very surprised, however, when her grandmother was bitten by the fish while she was trying to take the hook out of its mouth. “I was confused because I knew that fish with teeth are not normal. It was weird,” Smith told the outlet. “They were human-like and that made it even weirder.”

But the fish was nothing more than an invasive pacu, a relative of the piranha and they all have teeth that resemble those of humans.  Caddo County Game Warden Tyler Howser confirmed the fish was a pacu and told The Associated Press “I’ve actually caught one myself,” Howser said. “As soon as I saw (it) I said ‘I know what that is.’”

While officials indicate the fish can grow to be quite large, the one Smith caught only weighed about a pound, Howser said.  Because pacu are considered an invasive species that can destroy the native Oklahoma fish ecosystem and habitat, the fish Kennedy caught was taken by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and destroyed.