A bizarre fish with a mouthful of "human" teeth has been caught by a shocked diver - and smashed a world record with its "dinosaur-like" size.
The diver, named Todd Elder, was spearfishing when he saw something “abnormally large” moving in the depths of Chesapeake Bay, in the US state of Virginia.
He made the remarkable discovery which not only left him amazed but it also shattered the world record for its enormous size.
While submerged in the depths of the bay, Todd noticed an unusually large creature swimming nearby, intrigued, he approached it and decided to take a shot.
To his surprise, he successfully speared the fish, and as he pulled it out of the water, he realised what a strange creature he had found.
Upon closer inspection, Todd noticed that the fish had teeth resembling those of a human.
“I just swam down and happened to get lucky, there was an abnormally large sheepshead there, I pulled the trigger and got him,” he said.
“Then I grabbed the fish, and that’s when I got really excited.”
Looking at his catch, Todd, 38, saw they had something in common.
He said: “They have very human-like teeth that they use to eat cockles and oysters, and crabs.
“I tell everybody that I’m going to use these teeth when mine start falling out – pull one of them things out with pliers, pop it in with some superglue; good to go!"
However, it was not just the teeth that amazed Todd but also the fish's colossal size.
Comparing it to other sheepshead fish he had encountered, he described this one as "dinosaur-like" due to its massive proportions.
Typically, a ten-pound sheepshead is considered large, but this fish dwarfed even that size.
When Todd brought the fish ashore, it weighed over 19 pounds, which is approximately five times the average weight of a sheepshead.
Although some weight was lost by the time it was officially weighed a couple of days later, the fish still tipped the scales at a staggering 17.4 pounds.
He believes that the fish he caught was around 15 years old.
This exceptional size led the International Underwater Spearfishing Association to declare it a new world record, surpassing the previous record of 15 pounds set in 2011.
Todd said: “It’s pretty crazy; everybody loves a world record.
“Honestly, that night my wife came down to the dock and was like ‘you need to weight that immediately.
"I wasn’t even planning to weight it, I was just gonna weigh all the fish we got together, but I’m glad she talked me into it.”
Recalling his encounter with the fish, Todd mentioned that sheepshead are typically elusive and quick to dart away, but this particular specimen seemed unusually docile.
He couldn't believe how effortless it was to catch such a remarkable creature.
As an offshore oil and gas diver by profession, Todd runs the Virginia Beach Seafood Company.
Despite its record-breaking size, the fish did not go to waste.
Todd and his family cooked some portions in an air fryer and others in a cast-iron skillet, after dry-aging it.
He aims to use this experience as an opportunity to raise awareness about sustainability and encourage others to utilize as much of their catch as possible while taking care of the environment.
