Angler catches what may be a piranha

Published: Nov. 11, 2008 at 1:42 PM

JOLIET, Ill., Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A Joliet, Ill., man fishing waters warmed by a generating plant on the Des Plaines River claims he hooked what experts say may be a piranha.

D.J. Johnston, 28, hooked the fish near the Midwest Generation Plant, The Joliet (Ill.) Herald News reported Tuesday.

Johnston caught the fish Friday and it died Saturday so now he plans to mount it as a trophy, the Herald News reported.

Judging from a photograph Johnson took, the fish could be a red-bellied South American piranha, said Melissa Kruth, a spokeswoman for the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

"It was probably in someone's aquarium and they let it go," Kruth said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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