This giant pacu fish lives in a tank at Ed's World of Critters in Salmon Arm.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Ed's World of Critters

A giant vegetarian piranha is a local celebrity at a pet store in Salmon Arm.

The fish, called Pacu, is 31 years old and weighs roughly 65 pounds. He lives in a custom built, 2,000 gallon tank made from a refurbished wine fermentation barrel at Ed’s World of Critters pet store.

“Obviously we don’t have a scale we can put him on, but that’s the average weight for his species,” store manager Jenny Ritchie told iNFOnews.ca. “We call him a boy but I did research a few years ago and believe he's a girl, but he doesn’t mind.”

The giant fish is a fan favourite at the store with customers returning every summer to see him. He has ways of communicating with onlookers, is spoiled by the employees and gets the zoomies.

Pacu is a pacu, a South American freshwater fish related to the piranha. Unlike its carnivorous piranha cousin, the pacu is vegetarian with teeth that look like human teeth, according to the Audubon Nature Institute. The pacu has powerful jaws and feeds on plants, seeds and fruit that falls into the rivers from trees.

In the wild, Pacu’s live until they’re roughly 20. In captivity, they can live for several decades if well cared for.

Before she became store manager, Ritchie was in charge of the fish room where Pacu’s tank is and discovered the fish is communicative.

“We got close during that time and had games we played, getting him to open his mouth through the glass,” she said. “He is particularly fond of kids and dogs and gets the zoomies when they come up to his window. If you pretend to scratch him through the glass he wiggles.”

When it comes to meal times, Pacu the fish is fussy.

“He's spoiled. He's supposed to eat koi pellets for vitamins but he won’t eat his pellets by themselves,” Ritchie said. “He has to have them hidden in fruit. He loves bananas, strawberries and grapes.”

The fish tank is so big it can't be cleaned, so there are up to 20 cleaner fish living in it to eat up the algae. Pacu also shares his tank with a three-inch-long fish called a cichlid.

“This cichlid is a murderer, it kept killing everything in every tank he was put in, so I threw him in there with Pacu,” Ritchie said. “He challenged Pacu a few times but realized he didn’t stand a chance.”

Ed’s World of Critters is the only locally owned and operated pet store in Salmon Arm and has been serving the community for more than three decades. Located at 271A Trans Canada Hwy NE, the store has a strong focus on supplying Canadian made products and selling locally made products including dog food and treats. The staff there work to support local animal rescues and provide education on pet care for customers.

Pacu the fish is a big draw for the store.

The team obtained the fish when a customer surrendered it after realizing how big it was going to get, and for more than three decades Pacu has entertained onlookers from near and far.

“People come back home to visit family in the summer and pop by to see if Pacu is still alive,” Ritchie said. “We have people come in here that came in when they were children. They bring their own children in to see Pacu, and grandparents bring grandkids in.

“Pacu has fans all over the place, he’s definitely a local celebrity.”

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