The candiru (Vandellia cirrhosa), a tiny parasitic catfish native to the Amazon River, is infamous for allegedly swimming into the urethras of people urinating in the water. At just a few centimeters long, it typically parasitizes larger fish by locating their gill excretions. The myth claims the candiru mistakes urine streams for these excretions, entering the urethra, where it lodges itself with backward-facing spines, making removal painful and difficult. Reports of such incidents date back t