re: #209 Guanxi88

Or some of those Amazonian catfish from that “River Monsters” show.

Freakin’ Candiru!

For those not hep:

en.wikipedia.org

Alleged attacks on people

Although lurid anecdotes of attacks on humans abound, there is only one documented case of a candiru entering a human orifice.[7] In this instance, the victim claimed that the candiru “jumped” into his urethra as he urinated while thigh-deep in a river.[8] It was also once thought that the fish was attracted to urine (as the candiru’s primary prey emits ammonia from its gills, a chemical found in urine), but this was later discredited in formal experimentation.[4][9] Indeed, the fish appears not to have any response to any chemical attractants, and primarily hunts by visual tracking.[9] Bathers in the region are, however, warned not to urinate while swimming, out of concern that the expansion of the urethra during urination will allow the fish to enter the otherwise closed orifice.[8]

Traditional treatment for candiru is said to involve the use of extracts from the jagua or jenipapo plant (Genipa americana) and the Buitach apple, as it is thought that these two plants together will kill and then dislodge the fish.[10] Modern medicine, however, uses surgery. [11]