The fish locates its human targets when people urinate near the fish. A well-circulated myth is that the candiru is capable of swimming up the stream of urine in mid-air to a victim standing on shore or a boat, although this assertion is false. Nonetheless, there was a case in which the victim claimed that the fish jumped while he was urinating thigh deep.[9] They are also probably not attracted to pure urine.[4] It is believed that they are able to enter a human urethra only when it is expanded during urination.[9]