# Parasite question.



## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

I was wondering if anybody has herd of a parasite/fish from South America that is attracted to your urine ? I was told from a friend that there is such a thing. Is this true? 


Thank You


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## herefishy (Dec 14, 2006)

Yep. Evil little critters. They are called Candiru. Many natives fear them more than they fear pirhana. So, if you visit South America, don't pee in the water if you are skinny dipping.


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

What you're probably thinking of is Candiru (Siluriformes: Trichomyteridae).
It is said that urine attracts them, as they follow the stream of heavy ammonia and then can enter the body through various "openings". 
Here is a link for you, and please note, this is a .edu link, meaning it's scientifically published online, not just someone's opinion or repeating something they heard from an unidentified/unprofessional source.

http://www.k-state.edu/parasitology/625tutorials/Candiru.html


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## Dave66 (Mar 26, 2008)

bhone20 said:


> I was wondering if anybody has herd of a parasite/fish from South America that is attracted to your urine ? I was told from a friend that there is such a thing. Is this true?
> 
> 
> Thank You


Yes, it is one of the members of the Trichomycteridae family. They are called Candiru, and are translucent, parasitic, catfish. Most species follow the current of a fish's gill and lodge in them, sucking blood, while one or two species follow urine and lodge within the fish, again to 'eat' blood.

Dave


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## herefishy (Dec 14, 2006)

Added note: The only way they can be remove is surgically. They lodge themselves using their pectoral spines.

Hurts just thinking about it.


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## Amphitrite (Sep 8, 2006)

Here's some interesting information I found when Googling it:

http://www.angelfire.com/mo2/animals1/catfish/candiru.html


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## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

Oh no!.no thank you>but thank you all for the painful information!!


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

How long do you think they'd survive if I threw a couple of them into a public swimming pool?


...Just kidding. The fish probably wouldn't care for all of that chlorine.


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## okiemavis (Nov 10, 2007)

Ahh! I keep switching back and forth between really wanting to visit the amazon and being completely freaked out by stuff like this. I'll probably visit, but not go in the water unless I have some sort of air/water/bite/electricity proof casing. Or I'll go "screw it, I wanna see some cool fish" and then come home very, very sick.

I was googling collecting freshwater fish yesterday and came across this:
http://www.dawnontheamazon.com/

Sry, getting way too off-topic now...


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## GreenPlanet (Oct 15, 2010)

Watch this If you want to know more.
Video by *BBC*





More Info If you want to know more.

Candiru - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Still If you want to know more... Go to amazon River and ...... Lolz


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