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Clifford Lo

A 14-year-old boy needed three stitches in his index finger yesterday after being bitten by a 13cm piranha he was trying to catch in a public fountain.

With blood pouring from his finger, the teenager ran to a security guard for help and was taken to hospital for treatment.

The boy, identified only as Chan, had been trying to catch the fish in  a fountain outside Ping Wong House in Ping Tin Estate, Lam Tin, about 2am.

The piranha is a  popular fish in Hong Kong home aquariums.

A Housing Authority spokeswoman said a nearby resident had probably released the fish into the fountain.

She said guards tried to find the fish after the attack but it was too dark.

Estate management staff drained the fountain about 6am and found three freshwater fish, which  died and were given to police.

Two were identified as Serrasalmus spilopleura, a rare breed of piranha notorious for attacking its own kind. Experts advise it should be kept in a tank alone. The species of the third was not known.

'They are aggressive predators with extremely powerful teeth,' Ocean Park Aquarium curator David Lai Yiu-nam said. 'They are usually in a group and attack fish and animals. Their aggressive instincts are normally stimulated by blood or open wounds.'

People keeping the fish as pets  should not release unwanted piranhas into the sea or ponds as they affect habitats and attack fish, animals and humans, he said.

The injured boy, who was with three friends when bitten, had ignored signs at the fountain warning people not to enter the water.

Signs were added yesterday warning people not to release fish into the water.

A spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said there was no local law to control the import, export and trade in piranhas.

Dangerous waters

Piranha

Origin: warm South American rivers

Size: grows to between 8cm and 24cm

Diet: fish, insects, snails, plants and animals

Hunts: in shoals capable of stripping large prey to bones in minutes, including humans

Hong kong: licence not required to keep piranhas. Can be bought in Mongkok for $5



Boy, 14, bitten while trying to catch piranha in fountain