A fisherman in south-east China was left baffled when he caught a fish that looked like something out of a horror movie.
Mr Leung from the city of Jiangmen in Guangdong Province was working on the West River with friends on Tuesday when he caught the monster fish,’ reported Huanqiu.com, an affiliation of the People’s Daily Online.
He described the 30-inch-long creature as ferocious with a bite like a crocodile. Mr Leung didn’t dare to eat it, instead he has put it in a fish tank so visitors can see it.
Talking to reporters, Mr Leung said he has been working as a fisherman for more than 20 years and in all that time he has never seen a fish like this before.
He said: I suddenly felt my net become really heavy and then I saw the large fish.
‘It had a slender head and its whole body looked black with a white belly.’
He held its mouth open and revealed two full rows of fang-like teeth.
Mr Leung added because he didn’t know what it was he didn’t dare to eat it for fear of being poisoned.
The fish has been temporarily placed in a fish tank in a restaurant in the village for guest to enjoy.
Although Mr Leung said he had never seen anything like it before, the fish does look similar to a gar (Lepisosteiformes) but it also resembles a paddlefish.
Gar is a heavily armoured fish that dates back to the Cretaceous period.
According to Encyclopedia.com, they are usually found in North and Central America.
Paddlefish is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature it is critically endangered due to historical overfishing and habitat degradation.
Associated Newspapers Ltd