I bought fish for lunch — but was horrified to discover it has ‘human’ teeth
Nothing could be more unsettling than having your food smile back at you.
A woman in the Philippines nearly lost her lunch after she bought a fish to eat, only to discover that it had teeth so “humanlike” it looked like it had dentures.
“I went to the market, one of the best markets here in Bacolod City,” Maria Christina Cusi told Viral Press of her smirking seafood.
“I bought fish for our house — different kinds of fish — and I had this one fish that I took home to start cleaning,” she continued. “But when I cut the fish I was freaked out by its humanlike teeth.”
She’d reportedly purchased the bighead carp — a freshwater fish, locally called Imelda after the country’s famous First Lady, that’s a staple in stews and other dishes throughout its native East Asia — on July 24.
Unfortunately, Cusi’s dreams of a fine fish meal went out the window after she sliced open the plankton eater and discovered that it had a set of gnashers that looked just like a person’s.
“The teeth were all attached to the mouth of the fish,” recalled the woman, who pressed and poked the chompers to confirm they were part of the creature.
Accompanying footage shows the carp’s dentistry, with its teeth jutting down gruesomely.
Concerned that this catch of the day could be hazardous to her health, Cusi tossed the carp — which had cost $4 — away.
The carp tooth caper has not yet been solved.
Interestingly, these largely toothless grazers do possess snack slicers called pharyngeal teeth toward their throat, and not upfront, as seems to be shown in the clip.
This isn’t the first time a fish has possessed seemingly human mandibles.
Other notable human-toothed fish include the Pacu, an invasive arrival to the US that hails from South America; the sheepshead fish; and the pufferfish, known for puffing up like a parade balloon when threatened.
Three years ago, a triggerfish made a splash online for its bizarrely humanlike lips and teeth, which resembled an Instagram star’s filler-plumped pout.
