A picture of a man holding up the huge fish with the ape-like face after allegedly reeling it in in Trinidad, Caribbean, has gone viral across all major social media sites
A theory about an “Algerian gorilla fish” with an ape-like face that “feasts on whales” has been debunked as a mere social media myth.
Mike Holston, an exotic animal specialist and a zookeeper at the Zoological Wildlife Foundation of Mario and Maria Tabraue in Miami, Florida, peddled the conspiracy that the make believe animals exists.
He shared a picture of a man holding up the huge fish with the ape-like face after allegedly reeling it in in Trinidad, Caribbean.
Holston wrote: “What a great photo of this Algerian gorilla fish..this is a adult male they usually get about 3-4 ft but this guy was eating baby whales this winter and had fully maxed out in size!
“They lay 34 eggs on land and during mating season turn bright red to attract females! They travel in packs only in September when the El Niño is at maximum velocit ..they can live up to 13-years-old but if they are circumcised they can live up to 48!”
He urged his followers to share “more facts” about the beast.
One person said the gorilla fish “can equally breathe and function as efficiently in both the sea and on land”.
Dozens of people rushed to share their “facts” about the fish, with the ruse spiralling out of control and being widely shared.
A popular Twitter profile @rahsh33m shared the image of the made-up creature on April 17, 2023. The tweet gained 39,000 likes and over 4,000 retweets.
One Twitter user wrote: “Thats an Algeria Gorilla Fish. They usually reside in the nearby rivers’ beds during the warmer climates to mate. This is the first photograph I’ve seen of one this big as they’re usually 3-4ft long.
“Must be from the climate shifts. Also, I just made this s*** up.”
“We went right to Google cause I was like nah we dont think this is real,” another person said on Instagram.
Someone else added: “How come this is the only picture of this fish? No Google images of any gorilla fish.”
The actual origins of the photo remain unclear as the images have circulated several social media sites.
