5.28.2007

Tokyo Drift (1) - Harajuku

















































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5.04.2007

Candiru - Penis fish

Remember from the CDO trip when Jones was enjoying himself floating down the river and he started to answer the call of nature?


Well, now I found out what those little devils are called.




Candiru or toothpick fish or Penis fish

The candirú or canero (Vandellia cirrhosa) or toothpick fish is a freshwater fish in the group commonly called the catfish. It is found in the Amazon River and has a reputation among the natives as the most feared fish in its waters, even over the piranha. The species has been known to grow to a size of 6 inches in length and is eel shaped and translucent, making it almost impossible to see in the water. The candirú is a parasite.


The candirú parasitizes other fish. It swims into the gill cavities of other fish, erects a spine to hold itself in place, and feeds on the blood in the gills, earning it a nickname as the "vampire fish of Brazil". Recent research has shown that candirú do not suck blood, but rather latch on to an artery and have blood pumped into them.


It is feared by the natives because it is attracted to urine, and if the bather is nude it will swim into an orifice (the vagina and even the penis—and deep into the urethra) and because of spines protruding from the fish, it is almost impossible to remove except through surgery. The fish locates its host by following a water flow to its source and thus urinating while bathing increases the chance of a candirú homing in on a human urethra. Natives have also been known to bathe facing the current, as doing so would decrease the chances of the organism lodging itself in the rectum. Other orifices such as the penis or vagina are covered up with the use of hands.


A well-circulated myth is that the candirú is capable of swimming up the stream of urine in mid-air to a victim standing on shore or a boat. However this is physically impossible as the maximum swimming velocity of the fish is opposed by the downward velocity of the urine stream, and the further impossible act of the 5-14 mm wide fish maintaining position and thrust within a 2-7 mm wide column of fluid.

The candirú was featured on an episode of Grey's Anatomy entitled "Desire", when it crawled into the urethra of a man during his trip to the Amazon. It blocked his bladder and caused his testicles to swell, and was not determined to be the cause of these symptoms until x-rays of the victim's pelvis were taken, revealing its skeleton. The fish was later removed during surgery.

Info from Wikipedia.

BEWARE WHERE YOU PEE.

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