A Glasgow University professor has issued a warning to Glaswegians who have aquariums in their homes after he caught a huge Amazonian catfish in the River Kelvin.
Shaun Killen, Professor of Ecophysiology at the university, caught the fish, which is longer than the length of a hand, in the river this morning.
He took to Twitter to share news of the unusual catch, which he believes happened as a result of someone releasing their aquarium fish into the local waterway, and urged people in the city not to do so.
Visit Glasgow Live for breaking news, features and sport at our homepage, or check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
He tweeted: "We caught this beautiful, huge Amazonian catfish in the River Kelvin in Glasgow, Scotland this morning. Please do not release your aquarium fish into local waterways, they can be very ecologically damaging.
"My guess is that it got too big for someone's aquarium so they decided to go chuck it in the Kelvin. If you really need to get rid of a pet fish, please advertise it or call a local pet shop. Someone will be glad to take it off your hands."
Speaking to Glasgow Live about the find, Professor Killen said: "I think many people don't realise that releasing non-native aquarium pets into local habitats can be ecologically catastrophic. There are many examples all over the world of species becoming invasive after being accidentally or intentionally released.
Sign up to Glasgow Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox
"They may even think they are doing something nice for the fish by returning it to the wild, but it's important to remember that this is not their environment. They may be a voracious predator or otherwise out-compete native species."
