Fish that triggers hallucinations found off British coast

A species of bream, sarpa salpa, which can trigger hallucinations when eaten, has been been discovered in British waters due to global warming.

The species of bream is normally found in the balmier waters of the Mediterranean and South Africa, was found by fisherman Andy Giles in his nets in the English Channel.

Mr Giles, 38, caught the fish, which is instantly recognised by its gold stripes running along its body, six miles south of Polperro, Cornwall.



"We were trawling for lemon sole and hauled up the net at the end of the day and almost immediately saw this striped fish, we didn't have a clue what it was," he said.

"I had never seen one before and after taking a photograph of it I tried to look it up on the internet and called some friends to see if they knew what it was. I put it in the fish box and brought it back for experts to have a look at it. Now I realise what it was and the effects it can have, perhaps I should have taken it into town to sell to some clubbers!"

There have only been three previous recordings of sarpa salpa in British waters before, with one of them being off the Channel Islands in 1983.