2008 Woodie Awards
Juan's Brown Notes
Juan Muniz
Issue date: 2/6/07 Section: Entertainment
Welcome to "Juan's Brown Notes" a new weekly article where I inform you about anything and everything interesting and weird. Every week I'll give you a new factual story, researched by yours truly and guaranteed to astound, interest, and/or possibly disgust you. This week we're going to the Amazon River, home of the little known Toothpick Fish, which is, in my humble opinion, the scariest animal on the planet.
The Toothpick Fish, known as the Candirú amongst the locals, is a thin, translucent fish that only grows to be about six inches at the most. Its home is one of the most dangerous places on the planet, a river infested with all manner of dangerous animals, from piranhas to anacondas. Yet few of those animals strike fear in the natives as much as the little Candirú, and for good reason.
You see, the Candirú is a parasite. It usually swims around the murky waters of the Amazon until it senses a flow of water, typically caused by the exhaling gills of a fish. At that point, it darts against the flow and into the unfortunate fish's gills, erecting a spine to anchor itself. It then bites into a nearby artery and gorges itself on the fish's blood, until it is sated. It then detaches itself and swims away, content with its meal. The victim rarely survives and usually bleeds out in a rather horrible and painful death.
Now what makes the Candirú so fearsome to humans, you might be asking? Undoubtedly, some of my readers already have a vague idea why and are beginning to develop an uneasy feeling in their stomachs. You see, the problem lies with how the Candirú detects its prey. Since it typically only looks for a gust of water, a long standing story is that the Candirú has on more than one occasion found its meal in the member of someone who had merely dipped into the river to relieve himself. Sensing a rushing of water, the intrepid little fish would wriggle its way up the urethra of the unfortunate person, in search of its next meal. Once there, the Candirú extends its spine and begins its feast. Soon, the little fish is too engorged with blood to get loose, and becomes stuck. It eventually dies in there.
The Toothpick Fish, known as the Candirú amongst the locals, is a thin, translucent fish that only grows to be about six inches at the most. Its home is one of the most dangerous places on the planet, a river infested with all manner of dangerous animals, from piranhas to anacondas. Yet few of those animals strike fear in the natives as much as the little Candirú, and for good reason.
You see, the Candirú is a parasite. It usually swims around the murky waters of the Amazon until it senses a flow of water, typically caused by the exhaling gills of a fish. At that point, it darts against the flow and into the unfortunate fish's gills, erecting a spine to anchor itself. It then bites into a nearby artery and gorges itself on the fish's blood, until it is sated. It then detaches itself and swims away, content with its meal. The victim rarely survives and usually bleeds out in a rather horrible and painful death.
Now what makes the Candirú so fearsome to humans, you might be asking? Undoubtedly, some of my readers already have a vague idea why and are beginning to develop an uneasy feeling in their stomachs. You see, the problem lies with how the Candirú detects its prey. Since it typically only looks for a gust of water, a long standing story is that the Candirú has on more than one occasion found its meal in the member of someone who had merely dipped into the river to relieve himself. Sensing a rushing of water, the intrepid little fish would wriggle its way up the urethra of the unfortunate person, in search of its next meal. Once there, the Candirú extends its spine and begins its feast. Soon, the little fish is too engorged with blood to get loose, and becomes stuck. It eventually dies in there.
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