What the heck is this thing ? Image Credit: YouTube / Mail Online / Newsflare / China.Live
A fish with a head resembling that of a bird has been caught in a river in China's Guizhou Province.
Recently released footage of the peculiar creature, which looks like an amalgamation of two different types of animals, went viral after it was uploaded on to Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Since then, thousands of Internet users have been attempting to figure out what it is.
According to fish expert Yang Xing from the Guizhou Fisheries Research Institute, the most likely explanation is that the creature is a carp with a prominent head deformity.
"One possibility is that the embryo was damaged when it was growing," he said.
"Another possibility is that the lack of oxygen in [the] water - due to over-crowded fishing farming - caused the fish's head to be deformed."
According to reports, the fish was later released back in to the river.
1. The scales on the body, very much resembling those of a carp, end where the head begins- not the result of head trauma. 2. I don't see an obvious operculum. 3. What would cause the change in coloration? 4. Should this fish have barbels like some carp? (We could key it out). 5. Those are just off the top of my head, is that good enough?
Oh, and like a lot of people, I have seen many fish kills attributed to anoxic water conditions, and not once have I seen a specimen that looks like this.
I'm aware anoxia/hypoxia has been proposed somewhere but I'm not in favour of it. No, it's not really, sorry. The animal in the photograph and video clearly, but for the unusual shape of the head, resembles a carp. It particularly looks like a grass carp. Grass carp don't have barbels, so that's a tick, the colouration, scale pattern, and the differentiation between the body and head of both are also characteristic of the species. The gill cover is extremely clear to me, I'm confused by your not identifying it. Also the low placement of the eyes, acknowledging the deformity, is cgarecte... [More]
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