From time to time, the unexpected can occur during an animal’s prenatal development. These strange occurrences can be aberrational in some cases and beautiful in others. Sometimes these genetic abnormalities occur naturally and against all odds, while other times these mutations are man-made to serve a greater purpose.

These man-made changes may be the result of selective breeding or actual alteration of the creature at the genetic level. Regardless of the history or reasons behind the unique features of these creatures, all we know is that they are real and that every time one appears or is discovered it causes a lot of controversy in the scientific community. Like the strange looking fish found in China due to its unusual ‘bird’ head. Some said the fish’s head is similar to that of a parrot, while others said it looks more like a dolphin’s.

China’s mutant fish

The creature, nicknamed ‘birdfish’, was caught by several fishermen in Guizhou, southwest China. As reported by the Chinese newspaper Guizhou Daily, the video shows a strange fish out of water, while several surprised people look on. Although its body corresponds to that of a common fish, its head has a strange shape, similar to that of a bird.

The bizarre find occurred on June 5 and shortly after the video was posted on Chinese internet forums and on Facebook, sparking all kinds of debate and speculation about what the creature really is. Some netizens have compared the shape of the fish’s head to that of a pigeon, parrot or dolphin. While other users suggested that it could be a radioactive fish.

An expert from London’s Natural History Museum said it was not possible to identify the exact species of the fish from the video, but he believes it belongs to the Cyprinidae group, a family of carp. The fish shown in the images could be displaying a deformity known as a ‘mud head’, which is often seen in fish.

However, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, an international organization dedicated to the conservation of natural resources, explained that water pollution, genetic mutations and deformations at an early age of life could be the possible causes of the abnormal aspect of this fish.

Yang Xing, an expert from the Guizhou Fisheries Research Institute, told the Guizhou Daily that the bird-headed fish is actually a deformed carp. Xing explained that the deformation is very common among freshwater fish species.

“Possibly it is that the embryo was damaged when it was growing,” Xing said, referring to the possible causes of the deformation. “Another possibility is that the lack of oxygen in the water, due to overexploitation of fishing activity, has caused the deformation of the fish’s head.”

According to Chinese media, the fish was released by fishermen after being caught. Once again we are faced with a new case of a mutant fish and once again the explanations of the experts have not convinced everyone. Conspiracy theorists have gone further, and say that it is new evidence of experiments on animals in some secret base.

These horrifying animal experiments further involve the mutilation of pigs, rabbits, and monkeys, not to mention being shot, crushed, poisoned with toxic gases, and infected with disease. And it seems that the conspiracy theory is not so farfetched, since official figures show that more than 100 million animals die each year victims of experiments and vivisection.

According to the international organization AnimaNaturalis, the main sectors that use animals for experiments are the military, cosmetics, science, and even universities. So it should also come as no surprise that China’s mutant fish could be an animal that has escaped from a secret laboratory.

What do you think of this mutant fish? Is it a tent with a warp? Or could it be an animal that has managed to escape from a secret laboratory?