UPDATE: Since publishing this almost a year ago, the testicle-munching pacu has turned up in even more locations domestically, most recently in Michigan and, of course, Florida. Should we, the men of America, be as scared as the media wants us to be? Of course not. We revisit our chat with expert on all things aquatic and scary, Animal Planet star Jeremy Wade, who was too busy tracking down River Monsters to deal with these alarmists again.

There's a lot being made about a fish just discovered in Scandinavia for a simple reason: it has teeth, and it apparently likes to bite testicles with them. Should you be girding your loins for the Pacu? Or just a common aquarium fish with a bad rap? We just caught up with Jeremy Wade, biologist and host of Animal Planet's River Monsters, to find out.

Esquire.com: People in Scandinavia are up in arms over this fish, the pacu, which they say castrates fishermen.

Jeremy Wade: From what I gather, one has been found and it has been known to do that in other parts of the world. I think that the likelihood of something like that happening is quite slight, however.

Esquire.com: So you don't think there's anything to be afraid of? They're not going to become like something from a SciFi channel movie, roving Danish lakes and rivers?

JW: This is a fish that does actually crop up in quite a lot of places. It's very good at surviving. And how it normally gets to different waters is it's a very popular aquarium fish, and when they get too big people just sort of, you know, let them loose in the local pond or river or whatever. But generally there's not going to be enough of them to find each other and breed. I think it's unlikely in Scandinavia that there's very many and if there were lots of them it's probably too cold for them to breed there.

Esquire.com: What about here in the America?

JW: There are quite a few of them in the States, actually. They're known to be in places in Florida. Florida's nice and warm, there's all sorts of stuff living there that shouldn't be there! I've also heard, I can't remember where exactly, but there have been other places in the States where people have had some strange bite marks. There's a child who had a bite mark on her leg that looked suspiciously like a pacu as well.

Esquire.com: Have you ever caught one?

JW: Yeah, I've caught them in Papua New Guinea, and I've caught them in the Amazon, which is where they're native.

Esquire.com: So when you were fishing for them did it make you nervous, knowing their reputation?

JW: I'm in a boat. The thing about the Amazon is they're normally vegetarians. If there's plenty of their normal diet around, then they're gonna be happy with that. It eats nuts and seeds that fall from the trees. They have got very powerful jaws and teeth, because some of these nuts are quite hard to crack. Some people say that the teeth look like human teeth, people say in the fish world that the closest thing to them is the teeth of a horse. The problem in Papua New is if there isn't the normal food they'll figure something out.

Esquire.com: So you think they're attracted to testicles because they resemble nuts?

JW: I think if they're hungry enough! For instance, lets look at "why do fish bite the parts that they bite?" A fish with a big mouth, like a catfish, they've been known to bite people's legs. Normally not because they're hungry, but because they're protecting a nest or something like that. But piranhas, for example, are known to first bite the nose or ears, places where they can get some purchase. They're not going to get purchase on a flat surface. They need a protrusion for them to get their mouths on, as they've got a very small mouth. That's why I think if the pacu is really hungry… The other thing is, visibility is often not very good in fresh water. So if a fish bites something, a part of the body, it doesn't actually always realize that it's part of a body. It just sees something sort of waving around in front of it.

Esquire.com: But people have been attacked by these fish.

JW: In Papua New Guinea. We're talking about tribes people in the tropics. They've got no choice, if they want to wash they have to go in the river. Very often they're washing where they chuck the remains of their food as well, basically chumming the water and bringing fish into the sides. In the more developed world people don't do that anymore, they gave that up in the early 1900s or whatever. Also I don't know how many people in Scandinavia don't go swimming without anything on, I wouldn't think it was very many. Any pair of swimming trunks ought to be adequate protection, and I don't think they need to be armor plated or Kevlar or metal mesh or anything like that.

Esquire.com: So do you think the media uproar is over the top?

JW: Probably. I think it's something that gets people's attention and I think it is interesting that the fish is there. It does highlight the fact that invasive species, not just fish but all sorts of things, is an increasing problem, and you can't just chuck an aquarium fish in a river because you don't know what harm it's gonna have. Generally once something is established somewhere, it's very hard to get rid of. Having said that, just to repeat, I think it's very unlikely that these are going to breed in Denmark.

Esquire.com: So the Danes can breath easy?

JW: Whenever we do a shoot we do a risk assessment. "What's all the terrible things that can happen? What's the worst-case scenario?" But then in another column it's, "but what is the likelihood of this happening?" Yes, there is a chance that someone's little Benjamin there could get bitten by one of these things, but the likelihood is minimal I think. If you want piece of mind just cover yourself up and I think you'll be all right.

Esquire.com: Where are you headed next?

JW: Off to South America!

Esquire.com: After that?

JW: I really can't say. It takes such a long time for things to air, it won't go until next year, we'll say where we're going but not much else. But I will say I'm sort of vaguely going where these things originate, but they don't normally cause any trouble.

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