A bizarre-looking fish has made waves on the internet in China because of its unusual ‘bird’ head.
Some said the fish’s head looks like a pigeon’s or a parrot’s head; while others argued it bears more resemblance to that of a dolphin.
A local fishery expert said the strange creature is a deformed carp.
A group of fishing enthusiasts caught an unusual fish with a bird-shaped head in south-west China last week (left). Web users suggested the fish is a cross breed with dolphins (right)
The creature, called ‘bird fish’ by web users, was reeled in by a number of anglers in Guizhou, south-west China, reported Guizhou Urban Newspaper.
Video footage shows the odd fish gasping on the ground. While its body looks like a normal fish’s body, its head has a distinctive, mismatched shape.
The video has been circulating on Chinese online forums as well as on Facebook in the past week, leaving web users debating over what the creature really is.
People have compared the shaped of the fish’s head to that of a pigeon, parrot or dolphin.
The fish can be seen gasping as the anglers study it closely (left). People also commented that the fish’s head is similar to that of a parrot (right)
Chinese fishery expert explained it is a deformed carp, a common freshwater fish (left); although it’s been compared to a pigeon due to its small eyes and rounded head (right)
One Facebook user, called ‘Hong Fang’, questioned: ‘Is this a cross-breed of carp and dolphin?’
While another Facebook user ‘Duan Yiching’ said: ‘It looks like a radioactive fish to me.’
Fish expert at Natural History Museum told MailOnline that they ‘cannot identify the cyprinid fish’ but the fish could be showing a deformity known as ‘pug-head’, which is often seen in fishes.
Yang Xing, an expert from the Guizhou Fisheries Research Institute, told Guizhou Urban Daily that the bird-headed fish is actually a carp and it’s deformed.
The expert said deformation is commonly seen among the freshwater fish species.
He carried on explaining the possible causes of the deformation.
‘One possibly is that the embryo was damaged when it was growing; another possibility is that the lack of oxygen in water – due to over-crowded fishing farming – caused the fish’s head to be deformed.’
According to the report, the fish was set free by the anglers after being caught.