Mystery Sea Creature Found in a Tin of Tuna

A horrified mum opened a tin of tuna to discover a pair of beady eyes staring back at her. Zoe Butler was shocked after she found the mystery sea creature in a £1 Princes tuna while preparing her daughter’s dinner on Monday.

The 28-year-old from Nottingham has since complained and sent a picture of the fishy find to the brand who has now promised to investigate the grim discovery.

She said: “I opened the top of the lid and saw a purple thing, a gut sack or intestine, and then I turned it round and pushed it with a fork and saw it looking back at me.

“It’s got like a spiny tail along the bottom, it’s quite grim. I dropped the fork, jumped back, screamed a bit and shouted for my Nan to come and have a look.

“I haven’t shown it to the kids because they might get put off eating tuna. I just want to find out what it is and to make sure it doesn’t happen to somebody else.

“I didn’t set out to get compensation and I don’t a want lifetime’s supply of tuna.” The mum-of-two purchased the tinned tuna from her local Asda store as part of a multi-pack.

Her grandmother, Susan Goddard, 69, added: “It’s a little red and has eyes, bright black, looking at you. We did manage to ascertain that it was dead.”

Dr Hany Elsheikha, associate professor of veterinary parasitology at the University of Nottingham, said it could be some form of juvenile crab. He said: “All I can see from the picture is a body and the eyes are very prominent. The legs have been chopped off during the process.”

A spokesman for Princes said: “We were contacted by Mrs. Butler and immediately responded to apologize.”We are arranging for her to send us the product so that we can look into this matter fully.” An Asda spokeswoman said they were awaiting the outcome of the investigation.