The mysterious, tiny alien-like creature a British woman found in her tuna can last month is a tongue-eating parasite, scientists told The Telegraph on Thursday.
Zoe Butler, of the Arnold suburb of Nottingham, was appalled when she opened her Princes tuna can to find a pea-shaped varmint staring back at her through bulging black eyes. The 28-year-old clerical officer held onto the critter and sent pictures of it to Princes while experts guessed its origins.
Natural History Museum scientist Stuart Hine told The Telegraph he is convinced it's a parasite named Cymothoa exigua.
"From what I can see I would support the head of a tongue-eating louse," said Hine, manager of the museum's Identification and Advisory Service.
The parasites are known to live inside fish by entering through the gills and latching onto the tongue. But Hine said they are usually found in fish smaller than tuna.
"We could undoubtedly say more if presented with the specimen," he told The Telegraph.
Butler said she bought the can in a pack from local supermarket chain Asda.
"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," Butler told the Nottingham Post.
"It's got like a spiny tail along the bottom - it's quite grim," she added.
Suggestions of what the creature could be came pouring in, including a tadpole, the head of a soft-shelled turtle, a copepod or a blowfish fetus, The Telegraph reported. Princes said it was probably a tiny crab called a Megalopa.
"We were contacted by Mrs. Butler and immediately responded to apologize. We are arranging for her to send us the products that we can look into this matter fully," a Princes spokeswoman told the newspaper.
Butler shared photos of the bug-eyed creature online, much to the amusement of Twitter users who started the hashtag #TunaGate to solve the mystery. Butler made it clear to the Nottingham Post she just wanted to find out what it was and make sure no one else has a similar experience.
"I didn't set out to get compensation," she said, "and I don't want a lifetime's supply of tuna!"