INTRODUCTION
Trichomycterid was collected in a seine during a 1999 expedition by David M. Schleser and donated to OPEFE. The species was caught in a sand bar in the lower reaches of Orosa River. This is a few miles downstream from the small village of Suni Maranho, Department of Loreto, Peru.
The Candiru has few natural enemies. They are feared throughout their geographic range and are given a worse reputation than the piranha.
The Candiru is found only in the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers of South America. They do not like the sunlight and tend to bury themselves in the sand and mud under logs and rocks in the river bottom.
ATTACKING BATHERS
While it is been written that this fish enters the urethra of human bathers (one article - Lins, Journal of Urology, 1945) claims a U.S. navy surgeon named Charles Ammerman operated on three Candiru victims, in one case slicing into the bladder to extract the fish.
Schultz (Piranhas - Fact and Fiction, 1964 and Myers, 1977 Piranha Book) related some interesting stories of this fish. One in particular having to do with Candiru being found in drowned bodies of mammals. Schultz states Candiru can hollow out the entire body and when these mammals are pulled to shore, the Candiru fall out!
He also related a local belief that Candiru would follow the stream of urine of a person standing on the banks of a stream, to get into the urinary tract!
Now, it is certain based on a recent report of a human having urinated while in the water and the Candiru entered through his penis opening (see below). The catfish had to be surgically removed at a hospital in Manaus. The Candiru is considered by some to be the only known vertebrate to parasitism human beings, however that is an erroneous postulation. Truth is the fish enters humans more by accident than design, fortunately it is rare occurrence they enter human bodies!
This little catfish has been known to enter the gills of fishes where its parasitic nature takes over by feeding on blood and bits of flesh. Such is the nature of this miniature beast---a vampire-like to say the least! A smaller Amazonian fish, dubbed the vampire catfish, was recently discovered in the Araguaia River of the Amazon Basin. These transparent little fish are shown in deeper detail (see Fink image above) entering the gills of a fish.
For the first time, this story which has been carried at
www.opefe.com and shown on Animal Planet in 2006.
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