Rare fish with "human teeth" discovered thousands of miles from home by baffled fisherman

The bizarre animal was first thought to be a piranha before the fisherman realised its teeth were much more reminiscent of a human's

A bizarre fish with what looks like human teeth has been caught by baffled fishermen after they discovered it in a lake thousands of miles from its home.

Ron Rossi and his son Frank were fishing in a lake in Delran, New Jersey when they caught the odd-looking animal.

At first, the pair thought the fish might have been a piranha.

Frank said: "I've never seen anything like that before in the lake. It was different."

ABC Rare Amazon fish with human-like teeth
Bizarre: The rare fish was first mistaken for a piranha

But on closer inspection, the fish's teeth weren't pointed and sharp like a piranha's - but actually blunt like a human's.

Ron added: "We did pull the bottom lip down to see what they looked like and they have almost human teeth."

After some research, Ron and Frank discovered that the fish was actually a Pacu - that is usually found thousands of miles away in South America.

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Say cheese: The Pacu fish has teeth that look like a human's

Pacu are actually related to piranhas - but unlike their meat-loving cousins, they are actually omnivorous.

But how they have ended up in a lake in New Jersey is still something that has the fishermen baffled.

A spokesperson from the Department of Environmental Protection told Action News : "Many times, these fish are deposited into lakes by pet owners.

"These fish do not survive in colder water, so we encourage people not to release it into the wild."