An eight-year-old boy fishing for bass in Pennsylvania was stunned to catch something more associated with the Amazon – and countless horror movies – than the rolling landscape of the eastern US.

Seamus Coffey, who was fishing with his father Michael in a lake near Philadelphia, hauled in a large red-bellied piranha, complete with the razor-toothed jaws that the fearsome breed is so famous for.

Michael Coffey recalled to ABC that he told his son “Slow down dude, you might lose it” as he pulled in the hefty catch that he could not recognise. But Sean quickly identified the species.

“He said, ‘It’s a piranha!’” Michael said and when asked how he knew, Seamus replied: “Because I watch YouTube!”

The Pennsylvania fish and boat commission later confirmed the identification.

“Our biologists have confirmed that this is some species of piranha,” said Mike Parker, a spokesperson for the agency, to ABC.

The broadcaster said that officials assumed the fish had made it into Pennsylvania’s waters because it had been released by someone who owned it as an exotic pet. Such actions can have a devastating impact in local wildlife.

“It’s a lifelong responsibility for many of these species that do live fairly long lives and are expensive to take care of, require a special habitat, special food, a lot of care,” Parker told ABC.

“And people quickly tire of that and decide the best thing to do for this animal would be to go throw it in the river, go throw it in a pond. That is probably the worst thing you can do for an animal that’s been a pet.”

The Coffeys did not release the piranha back into the lake and they disposed of it humanely.