Should men be worried about the 'testicle-eating' pacu fish?

Meet the fish known as the "ball cutter"

For the record, the pacu (left) is also known a the "nutcracker."
(Image credit: AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

As a kid, your mom may have told you to never go swimming within a half hour of eating. What she probably didn't tell you was to keep an eye out for a massive Amazonian fish with a penchant for nibbling on human testicles.

Yet that's what Danish wildlife experts warned this week after a pacu — a cousin of the more well-known piranha — turned up in waters separating that nation from Sweden. More to the point, they offered the friendly suggestion that swimmers "best keep their swimsuits well tied" lest the fish opt to make a meal of their exposed genitals.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.