A creepy fish with a large set of human teeth attacked a 31-year-old tourist near the coast of the popular resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. A terrible-looking individual clung to the right leg with a death grip and tore off a piece of skin. The Daily Star reported on the incident.
American diver Alex Pikul, who was enjoying a picturesque dive off the coast of the popular resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, looking at corals, was unlucky: during a group underwater trip, he, like others, was forced to change course due to a strong current. However, the new route promised him trouble: the 31-year-old tourist met an angry fish armed with sharp protruding teeth similar to human ones. The individual had a striped coloration, large eyes, and a large mouth with several rows of teeth. Without thinking for a long time, the sea dweller attacked the traveler: the teeth of the mysterious creature grabbed his right leg. As the diver later said, then he experienced terrible pain.
The terrible marine specimen with a human grin in the Red Sea turned out not to be a newcomer, not a mutant and not a victim of bad ecology, but a Cape Cod crucian carp. Other names are convict fish, sheepshead fish, sheepshead fish. This is a rare marine fish with 30 to 75 cm in length.
In the course of further investigations, it became clear that the crucian carp had reasons to attack the diver. A group of tourists swam next to the spawn, and the injured diver found himself near the “nest”. The male, probably fearing that his offspring was in danger, was not afraid to attack the person and even chase him for a while.
“I thought I was safe because the crucian carp had floated away, so I turned around and swam after the rest of the group, but suddenly it appeared and bit me on the leg. I felt a lot of pain and thought that he must have torn the skin and I was bleeding. If you were underwater with me, you would have heard the curses I shouted,” he said.
Despite the strong current and the injured leg, the “difficult” dive turned out to be memorable for the American and he “doesn’t hold a grudge against the grumpy fish for simply protecting its spawn.” “I’ve only seen Cape Cod crucians before in videos, but when I saw one next to me in the water, I thought I was lucky because I could see what its teeth looked like up close. Only a mother could love that face—a stupid, ugly fish with human teeth. They look too big for his mouth like he has dentures or something. The bite left a bruise and a scar in the shape of his teeth for the rest of the trip, which was quite funny,” said the tourist.
Background: The bullhead fish, or Cape Cod crucian carp, is a deep-sea, laterally compressed marine fish with sharp dorsal spines. The fish has a large mouth and human-like teeth, which it uses to gnaw on oysters, echinoderms, and crustaceans. This species is known to have a bad temper, especially when guarding its offspring, and has been known to attack and bite those who pose a potential threat.