A black pacu living in a New York pet shop is 43 years old — twice as old as the average pacu. Steve Gruebel, owner of the Cameo Pet Shop in Queens, New York, got the fish in 1967 and sold it when it was 2 inches long. In 1970, Gruebel took it back after it outgrew the buyer’s tank and has kept it in the shop since. Since his pacu has been with him so long, he says, “He’s not for sale. He is mine.”
Gruebel says that the pacu, now 23 inches and 20 pounds, has arthritic gills and glaucoma in its right eye.
Another pacu lived in a restaurant tank in Seattle for 20 years until its tank sprung a leak. It was at least 31 years old when it died.