Angler catches flesh-eating piranha in Dutch river

THE HAGUE (AFP) - A Dutch angler got a big surprise when he caught a carnivorous piranha, native to Brazil's mighty Amazon river, in a river in the north of the Netherlands, ANP news agency reported.

The fisherman, identified as P. Scholte, did not know at first what he had caught last week.

"I thought because of the red belly that it was a red rock-bass," he told ANP. He took a few pictures of his catch and released it back into the river.

Another angler later told Scholte the fish was a razor-tooth piranha. A quick Internet search confirmed the red-bellied fish's identity.

Piranhas can grow to up to 60 centimetres (two feet) long and normally live in the rivers and lakes of South America.