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I remember when the pet stores used to sell Pacus very cheaply. Nobody was able to keep them for long because they quickly out-grew their aquariums and the fish would sometimes end up in the local waterways. There was a lot of confusion when anglers caught an enormous fish with big, blunt teeth.
Even fish and wildlife misidentified a Pacu as a Piranha when one was caught in the Delaware.
Article on it:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/200...hes_south.html
Nearly all the independent exotic fish stores have closed their businesses. They were replaced by the big-box pet stores like Petco And Petsmart that usually just sell small tropicals like platys and tetras. When I was big into aquariums and tropical fish, I would make several trips a month to the Shark Aquarium and the Pet Shanty on Route 22. Both of which are no longer in business.
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