Piranha found in Devon river

A piranha has been found in a river in Devon, the Environment Agency said.


Published: 1:52PM BST 28 Aug 2009
The Environment Agency found the dead piranha in the East Okement tributary of the River Torridge in Devon.
The Environment Agency found the dead piranha in the East Okement tributary of the River Torridge in Devon. Photo: PA

Environment Agency fisheries workers found the dead piranha in the East Okement tributary of the River Torridge in Devon while conducting a survey of fish species using electric fishing equipment.

The piranha, the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world, is more commonly found in the Amazon River basin.

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The Red Bellied Piranha found at East Okement was about 14 inches long, bigger than the species average of up to eight inches.

A examination of the fish revealed its stomach was full of sweetcorn, suggesting it might have been kept as a domestic pet.

The Environment Agency said the piranha was most likely to have been placed in the river once the fish became too large for its tank and died because it could not tolerate the low temperature of the water.

Eddie Stevens was one of the three-man monitoring team who found the piranha.

''What we actually came across was something which we would not expect to find in our wildest dreams - we could hardly believe our eyes," he said. ''After completing 20 metres of the survey a large tail emerged from the undercut bank on the far side of the river.

''Our first thought was that a sea trout had become lodged in amongst the rocks and debris collected under the bank. But when it was removed from the river we were speechless to find it was a piranha.''

Although piranhas would not survive in UK rivers, the Environment Agency has warned that the introduction of non-native species poses a serious threat to native wildlife.

Mark Diamond, ecology manager at the Environment Agency, said: ''Whilst piranhas can't survive the colder climates of the UK, this latest find highlights a real issue - that releasing unwanted exotic pets or plants into rivers can have serious consequences for native wildlife.

''Rather than dumping things in the wild, we would urge people to seek advice about what to do with exotic species.''

The Environment Agency says it is concerned about increasing numbers of non-native fish and plant species in UK waters.

River banks are being weakened by Chinese mitten crabs and the American signal crayfish, which are also killing native crayfish, it says.

Topmouth gudgeon are displacing native fish in lakes while the mink is having a harmful affect on the number of water voles.

Floating pennywort, originally from North America, was brought to Britain in the 1980s as a plant for tropical aquaria and garden ponds.

After being released into the wild, it is now starving rivers across the south of England and south Wales of light, nutrients and oxygen, killing many of the species living in it.

The aggressive North American red-eared terrapin was once a popular pet but huge numbers have been dumped in rivers, eating native fish, newts, toads and even ducklings.

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