The weeks-long quest to identify a tiny creature that made a surprise appearance in a British woman's can of tuna may be nearing an end.
Zoe Butler was more than a little taken aback when she opened the can of Princes tuna chunks to find a small set of eyes staring up at her.
"I opened the top of the lid and saw a purply thing, a gut sack or intestine -- then I turned it round and pushed it with a fork and saw it looking back at me,” she told the Nottingham Post. "It's got like a spiny tail along the bottom –- it's quite grim."
She posted her queasy discovery to Twitter, and rampant speculation quickly took hold as online sleuths brainstormed hypotheses. Guesses ran the gamut from a baby sea turtle to a blowfish fetus.
@NottinghamPost can you tell me what this is? Nearly fed this to my children!! From Princes tuna chunks can pic.twitter.com/IHNw1PdFnO— Zoe Butler (@zoelouisebutler) January 19, 2015
@zoelouisebutler My guess is a blowfish fetus?... Thats mine anyway, haha.— AcidFairyUk (@AcidFairyUk) February 4, 2015
@zoelouisebutler @NottinghamPost Ya know....with the markings on the head, it actually looks like the head of a developing baby sea turtle.— AmySolorio (@SolorioAmy) February 4, 2015
@zoelouisebutler Looks like an alien .... How did it taste? #savingliveswithNeoslip— Neo-Innovations UK (@NeoInnovations) February 4, 2015
But now the #Tunagate search seems to have yielded two distinct possibilities: a tongue eating parasite or a tiny crab. An expert from the Natural History Museum in London told The Telegraph that the mysterious monster is most likely a Cymothoa exigua, a louse that feeds on the tongues of fish.
Mystery tuna creature was a tongue-eating louse, says Natural History Museum http://t.co/nFcu7He80m #tunagate pic.twitter.com/tC8FPQWAfJ— Sarah Knapton (@sarahknapton) February 5, 2015
But Princes' own investigation has determined that it is a small immature crab called a Megalopa, according to the Nottingham Post. Princes said the crab is eaten by the tuna and is harmless to people.
Harmless or not, the ordeal will likely make some think twice before digging into a can of tuna.
"I shall call him squishy, and he shall be mine. And he shall be my squishy." #TunaGate— Nicola Masters (@NicolaDawn) February 5, 2015
So disappointed.....I opened my can of tuna and there was no strange creature #TunaGate— Marty Silvestri (@marts1977) February 5, 2015
With some tuna stocks on brink of collapse, not sure that this story is the real #TunaGate http://t.co/L6fUlWhSNt— Daniel Murphy (@DanielMurphy0) February 5, 2015
@zoelouisebutler I think I'm over tuna. That could happen anywhere ! Although it's gross it's kinda cute. Does princes have it? #TunaGate— Krys (@KrystalHillage) February 4, 2015