The term ‘fish face’ has taken on an all new meaning after a British ghost carp owner discovered his fish possessed distinctly human features – and his prize carp has since been valued at £40,000!
Brendan O’Sullivan, 44, from Dagenham in Essex, noticed something fishy when catching a close-up glimpse of his carp which he has had for five months – and only in the past week has he noticed what looks like a human-esque mouth, nose and eyes.
“Because of the weather earlier this year I didn’t really get to have a proper look at it,” said Mr O’Sullivan. “Then, last week, as I was sunbathing in the back garden I poked my head over the pond and there it was swimming towards me.
“It was astonishing. I could easily make out from the markings two eyes, a nose and a mouth. I thought I was suffering from sunstroke.”
Carp fish have long been known to possess distinctive facial markings but it is rare to find pictorial evidence and to spot a carp sporting such intriguing features.
One commenter on the Daily Mail news site, Richard from New Zealand, said: ‘That would make it one very expensive fish supper!’
However other bloggers were less enthusiastic, with one commenter saying: “What sort of fool would pay £40,000 for a fish?”
The footballers may have let us down but our country’s fishermen have restored some faith in national sport with a thrilling victory at the 2010 Coarse Fishing World Championships.
