The Dreaded Candiru AKA Penis Fish: Myth or a Horrible Fact?

It is true that you should not pee in the Amazon River. It is true that there is a fish-like parasite that can swim up through your urine stream into your urethra and embed it's fin-like spikes into your urethra and grow inside you. It sounds like something from a horror story but it is not fiction.

The parasite is called a candiru' fish. An article in Urology by John Herman in 1973 describes this hideous little parasite. It is actually related to the catfish. It is slimy, slim and has little spikes that grow backwards and will be impossible to remove from the bladder without surgery. The average specimen grows to approximately 3 inches long and is about a quarter of an inch in diameter. It lodges itself inside the gills of a larger fish and sucks their blood to live. It can swim up into the urethra of women even easier because of the way the vagina is designed. This is another unfortunate example of the luck of women.

The story of the Penis Fish has been believed by the natives of the Amazon for many centuries and has been proven to be true. It is interesting that herbal remedies by the natives have been effective.

They believe that the hot tea from the Jagua tree will soften the skeletal bones of the parasite and the hideous little monster will be expelled through the urine. This idea was scoffed at until Urologist Eugenio Lins used a synthetic version of the tea to treat bladder incrustations. He found that it was effective. He believed that it might dissolve kidney stones. This was way back in 1943.

A navy surgeon Charles Ammerman operated on several different victims of the Penis Fish and removed the parasites back in the 1930's. He sliced open the bladder to remove them. Even if the story of the Penis Fish is considered fiction there are documented cases of it. People thought that the episode on Grey's Anatomy was fictitious where there was an unfortunate victim of this creepy little parasite. It was later proven to be true.

I know that I for one will never attempt to bathe in the Amazon River. You may feel free to enjoy the water but for my family and me we will do our swimming in more friendly waters. They say that truth is stranger than fiction. I for one believe that sometimes ignorance is bliss!