As reported earlier, an ill-fated eel somehow ended up in the butt of an allegedly constipated Chinese gentleman. Two European fish experts have now taken a closer look at a photograph of the eel in question and given their expert opinion on its identity.

When discussing the fish-in-butt incident with Swedish ichthyologist Dr Sven Kullander, Dr Ralf Britz of London’s Natural History Museum – an expert on the order Synbranchiformes – suggested that this fish might not be an eel at all. Instead, he believes the elongated fish to be a member of the species Monopterus albus, since the tip of its tail is very slender and the gular region somewhat inflated.

Despite not being a true eel, Monopterus albus is commonly known as Asian swamp eel in English. It is a popular food fish in parts of south-east Asia and you can buy it alive in fish markets. All young swamp eels are female but some of the change sex and become male as they age. If a male swamp eel founds itself in an environment with no or very few females, he can change himself back into a female fish again. The change from one sex to the other can take up to a year.

If you ever feel the need to insert a swamp eel into your body, we here at AC Tropical Fish suggest you do it orally.

Swamp Eel Chowder
4 servings

Ingredients
Ruhgly 600 g Monopterus albus
150 g Lean Pork
50 g Dry Black Fungus
5 pieces of Dry Black Mushroom
3 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp Shaoxing Wine
1 L Chicken Stock
2 tbsp Shredded Lemon Leaves
1 tbsp Shredded Ginger
1 tbsp Chopped Parsley

Ingredients for seasoning
3 tbsp Water Chestnut Powder
1 tbsp Water
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1/2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1/2 tbsp Salt
1 tsp pepper

Instructions
1.) Prepare the seasoning by stirring all seasoning ingredients together. Set aside.
2.) Remove the bones from the eel.
3.) Wash the eel meat in hot water and shred it.
4.) Let the black fungus and black mushrooms soak in water until they become soft.
5.) Shred the black fungus and black mushrooms.
6.) Clean the pork and shred it.
7.) Heat up a wok or large frying pan and add the cooking oil.
8.) Add the eel meat to the wok and stir fry.
9.) Add wine and chicken stock and bring to a boil.
10.) Add the shredded fungus, mushrooms, and pork and cook for 5 minutes while stirring.
11.) Add ginger and parsley and cook at low heat for another 5 minutes while stirring.
12.) Add the seasoning, continue to cook and stir for 2 more minutes.
13.) Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

* If you want to see the low resolution picture of the actual specimen extracted at the Kwong Wah Hospital, the paper where it is included has been published in the journal Surgery. “Siu Fai Lo, Sin Hang Wong, Lok Sang Leung, In Chak Law, Andrew Wai Chun Yip, Traumatic rectal perforation by an eel, Surgery, Volume 135, Issue 1, January 2004, Pages 110-111”.

In Australia, a live shark was dumped on the doorstep of The Standard’s Raglan Parade office in Warrnambool shortly after midnight on April 22.

Fortunately for the shark, a local resident passed by, saw the shark, and alerted the police.

“I’d just come out of McDonald’s and there was another gentleman there and he told me there was a shark on the doorstep,” the man said to the Standard. “I thought he must have been drunk . . . but I put a spotlight on it and the shark was just sitting there perfectly still and you could see its gills going.“

Since the man didn’t have a phone with him, he drove to the police station, hoping someone there would believe him.

“I said to the policewoman at the counter: ‘I’m not sure how to explain this but there’s a shark on the front door of The Standard and it’s still alive’ and she said ‘what?’. It’s not something you hear about every day.“

The man said he drove home and told his girlfriend, who didn’t believe him. To convince her, he took her to The Standard’s front door where they found police officers busy pouring water over the poor shark to keep it alive.

The officers responsible for saving the shark and bringing it back to sea were Constable Jarrod Dwyer and Acting Sergeant Greg Cresell who, after pouring water over the animal, loaded it into their divvy van and transported their unusual passenger to the ocean.

“I nursed it on the front seat (of the divvy van) and we took it to the breakwater and put it back in the water near the boat ramp,” Constable Dwyer said. “It was literally right on the doorstep of The Standard.” He said the shark swam off when placed in the breakwater.

Acting Sergeant Cresell said it was one of the most bizarre incidents he’d come across in his time as a police officer.

“We’ve had some strange things in the van before but never a shark,” he said. “We wanted to save it and the longer it was out of the water the worse it was for it.”

The approximately 60 cm long fish has been identified as a Port Jackson shark by Ian Westhorpe, senior fisheries officer with the Department of Primary Industries. The Port Jackson shark is a common southern species but not often taken on a hook.

Not returning a fish to the water if you don’t intend to keep it is an offence, Westhorpe explained, and it will usually result in an on-the-spot fine.

“These laws are there to encourage the humane handling of fish,” Westhorpe said.

He also added that a Port Jackson shark isn’t dangerous to humans, except for the two venomous dorsal spines located near the dorsal fins.

Warrnambool police are investigating the incident and wish to speak with anyone with information.