{"id":41511,"date":"2026-08-12T19:54:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41511"},"modified":"2026-08-12T19:54:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:54:00","slug":"boy-unexpectedly-catches-a-piranha-at-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41511","title":{"rendered":"Boy unexpectedly catches a piranha at lake"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">RIDLEY PARK, Pa. &#8212; <\/span>An 8-year-old boy&#8217;s unexpected catch at a lake near Philadelphia has drawn attention to the issue of exotic pets being released into local waterways.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">During a Saturday morning fishing trip, Seamus Coffey was reeling in what he thought might be a large bass when he realized he had hooked something unusual.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I&#8217;m reeling it in, and I think there&#8217;s a bass,&#8221; Seamus said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">His father, Michael Coffey, recalled saying: &#8220;I was like, &#8216;Slow down dude, you might lose it.&#8217; This looks like something we haven&#8217;t caught before.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">But what they found on the other end of the line caught them by surprise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I was like, &#8216;Oh, this is a bluegill, I don&#8217;t know what this is,'&#8221; recalled Michael. &#8220;And he said, &#8216;It&#8217;s a piranha!'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">When asked how he knew, Seamus replied, &#8220;Because I watch YouTube!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission later confirmed the identification.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Our biologists have confirmed that this is some species of piranha,&#8221; said Mike Parker, a spokesperson for the agency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">While the catch made for one heck of a story for the father-son fishing duo, Parker said the presence of a tropical fish native to South America in a Pennsylvania lake points to a larger issue: people releasing exotic pets when they can no longer care for them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I think a lot of times people do, you know, they have a dream: I want to own an exotic fish or a snake or an alligator, and it&#8217;s cute when it&#8217;s small. But maybe they can&#8217;t afford that or house it anymore, and they decide maybe this is someone else&#8217;s problem,&#8221; Parker said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Parker said the piranha wouldn&#8217;t have survived in Pennsylvania waters for very long, out of its natural habitat, and likely unaccustomed to the survival skills needed for the wild after living as a pet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;It&#8217;s a lifelong responsibility for many of these species that do live fairly long lives and are expensive to take care of, require a special habitat, special food, a lot of care,&#8221; Parker said. &#8220;And people quickly tire of that and decide the best thing to do for this animal would be to go throw it in the river, go throw it in a pond. That is probably the worst thing you can do for an animal that&#8217;s been a pet.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Michael Coffey said he disposed of the fish properly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;So we ended up getting rid of it, humanely,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Parker said that was the right decision, noting the fish posed a danger to the public and could have disrupted the ecosystem. He added that releasing exotic species into Pennsylvania waters is illegal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Even if the law says that you&#8217;re allowed to own an exotic pet, whether that be a fish or a reptile, you&#8217;re not allowed to introduce that species into the wilds of Pennsylvania. So that is unlawful. You can be fined, prosecuted,&#8221; Parker said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">As for our fearless fisherman Seamus, he says he wasn&#8217;t scared of the razor-toothed predator at all, and his number one hobby remains unchanged.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Fishing is my favorite thing,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;We&#8217;ve had some crazy fishing experiences, but that&#8217;s definitely number one,&#8221; Michael added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Parker said it is unlikely more piranhas are in the lake, but anyone who sees or catches one should report it to the Fish and Boat Commission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RIDLEY PARK, Pa. &#8212; An 8-year-old boy&#8217;s unexpected catch at a lake near Philadelphia has drawn attention to the issue of exotic pets being released into local waterways. During a Saturday morning fishing trip, Seamus Coffey was reeling in what he thought might be a large bass when he realized he had hooked something unusual&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/4499db4a-d2b6-4b80-97e3-016c7226aa19\/piranha-as-gmh-260812_1786542336571_hpMain_16x9.jpeg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}