I was wondering if anybody has herd of a parasite/fish from South America that is attracted to your urine ? I was told from a friend that there is such a thing. Is this true?
Yep. Evil little critters. They are called Candiru. Many natives fear them more than they fear pirhana. So, if you visit South America, don't pee in the water if you are skinny dipping.
What you're probably thinking of is Candiru (Siluriformes: Trichomyteridae).
It is said that urine attracts them, as they follow the stream of heavy ammonia and then can enter the body through various "openings".
Here is a link for you, and please note, this is a .edu link, meaning it's scientifically published online, not just someone's opinion or repeating something they heard from an unidentified/unprofessional source.
I was wondering if anybody has herd of a parasite/fish from South America that is attracted to your urine ? I was told from a friend that there is such a thing. Is this true?
Yes, it is one of the members of the Trichomycteridae family. They are called Candiru, and are translucent, parasitic, catfish. Most species follow the current of a fish's gill and lodge in them, sucking blood, while one or two species follow urine and lodge within the fish, again to 'eat' blood.
Ahh! I keep switching back and forth between really wanting to visit the amazon and being completely freaked out by stuff like this. I'll probably visit, but not go in the water unless I have some sort of air/water/bite/electricity proof casing. Or I'll go "screw it, I wanna see some cool fish" and then come home very, very sick.
Still If you want to know more... Go to amazon River and ...... Lolz
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