Without doubt, the potential threat of the candirú has been
popularized greatly by
Redmond O'Hanlon. In his book*, he
describes the fish as an
urinophilic creature that penetrates the
urethra of male and female bathers. The fish then extends his spines;
a painful condition that can only be solved with penile
amputation.
It's a truly interesting story; especially O'Hanlon's description of
manufacturing a
penis protector from a
tea strainer.
Natives from the Amazon are quite familiar with the candirú:
local fishermen even claim that it is dangerous to urinate into the
river, because the fish can launch itself out of the water, and swim
upstream into the urethra. The remarkable feats of such a tiny
creature scream for a more detailed discussion.
The candirú is a parasitic catfish of the Vandellia
family (urethra fish). The name candirú is Brazilian: the Spanish
name is canero or caneros (from carnero: flesh- eater.) The fish is
found in the Amazon, the Araguay and many other rivers stretching
from Peru to Brazil. The three most common types known for their
urethral parasitism are V. sanguinea, V. wieneri (gotta love that
name), and Urinophilus erythrurus. The fish is translucent,
eel-like, and approximately one inch in length. The fish has short
spines on its gill covers that extend in an umbrella-like
fashion. This prevents the fish from being pulled out.
The fish have very small eyes and live in murky water. It was always believed that the fish were urinophilic (attracted
to the scent of urine.), since it would often swim into the urethra of
bathing victims that were urinating in the river. However, the
candirú feeds on blood and it is often found in the gill
cavities of other fishes. Its instinct is to swim upstream into
gill cavities, and attach itself. The fish is perhaps not urinophilic at
all; it may simply mistake the stream of urine for the water flow out of
a gill cavity. It should also be noted that the candirú not only
attacks the urogenital apertures of men and women, but it has also
been reported to attack the ear, nose and anus.
Other than the unconfirmed stories of local fishermen, there are no
documented incidents of candirús swimming out of the
river, through a falling stream of urine, into the
urethra of a urinating victim. It seems highly unlikely that the
candirú can:
- locate the exact position of the urine entering the murky, flowing
river
- battle the enormous drag forces of the urine flow
- remain swimming inside the flow boundaries, and not fall out of the stream
- Do all the above so quickly,
that a potential victim is unaware what is happening
However, the dangers the fish possess to swimmers are real,
and the results are often extremely painful. The reports of past
encounters confirm this:
The candirú introduced itself partway into the vagina, causing a
hemorrhage when it was pulled out, and a subsequent severe
inflammation. This operation requires some caution and skill because if,
in order to withdraw it, the candirú is caught by its tail or its
body it expands its dorsal and ventral spines into the tissues, which
fix it there more firmly than ever.
Or in a case involving a male victim:
... he had operated for it two or three times... In one
instance he tried to pull a fish out of a patient's penis, but the tail
pulled off, and he had to operate, making a suprapubic opening into
the bladder to remove the fish which had penetrated into that
organ.
Several men could only be rescued from death by amputation of the
penis. It should be clear that it is much better to avoid this creature
than deal with the consequences. Natives of the Amazon often protect
themselves from the candirú by constricting the opening of their
penis, or with the use of a covering sheath. A tight fitting
bathing suit can also prevent entry of the fish into the urethra.
Rather than having a painful surgery, there is another potential
method of getting rid of a candirú: supposedly the juice of the
xagua (jagua) fruit kills and dislodges the fish. This perhaps
acidifies the urine, so that the spines of the candirú soften. It
is suggested that a megadose of vitamin C will have the same effect,
so bring along some pills if you're planning to swim in the Amazon!
Factual Sources:
*Redmond O'Hanlon - In Trouble Again: A Journey Between the Orinoco and
the Amazon, Vintage Books (1990), ISBN: 0679727140
http://www.wemjournal.org/wmsonline/?request=get-pdf&file=i0953-9859-002-04-0304.pdf (very interesting article!)