This is Leicestershire --Angler Simon Bowerman has netted a few unusual fish in his time – but his latest catch had a real sting in the tail.
The 22-year-old was amazed to see jellyfish in the water during a fishing trip to a freshwater lake at Newbold, near Ashby.
Simon, a sales assistant at Redline Motorcycles in Loughborough, grabbed a net to catch a couple of the one-inch wide jellyfish to prove he was telling the truth.
Biology experts have identified the creatures as hydrozoan Craspedacusta sowerbyi, which were indigenous to the Yangtze River valley in China.
Simon said he could not believe his eyes when he saw them.
"I was doing a recce of the lake when I looked in and saw the jellyfish swimming about," he said.
"I raced back to my car and got a net and fished a couple of them out to have closer look."
Simon, who has been fishing since the age of four, said he had never caught anything so strange.
He said: "I have landed a few odd fish in my time but these things take the biscuit.
"I expect to see jellyfish at the seaside but not in a freshwater lake miles from the coast."
Simon said none of his friends believed him when he told them about his unusual catch.
"I knew that would be the reaction so that's why I fished a couple out and took some pictures," he said. "I even took a video so that people could see it was not a wind up or a stunt."
Like every good angler, Simon put the jellyfish back in the water.
He said: "I might go fishing at the lake but I don't think I will be swimming there.
"I know they can't really hurt humans but I'm not prepared to take that chance."
A biology expert from the University of Leicester said the jellyfish were almost certainly hydrozoan Craspedacusta sowerbyi.
Dr Iain Barber said: "It is not a UK native, being originally indigenous to the Yangtze River valley in China, but it was first discovered in the UK in 1880 in water-lily tanks in Regents Park, where presumably it had been introduced with the plants."
Dr Barber said the jellyfish were now "well established" across the northern hemisphere and had been recorded sporadically in the UK since they were first seen here.
"It has been found in Leicestershire before and is not particularly rare – the warm summer might well have contributed to the growth and reproductive success of this population," he said.
The jellyfish were last spotted in Leicestershire in 2006.
Experts say they do have stinging cells. However, the sting is used for paralysing very tiny prey and has not been proven to have the capacity to pierce human skin. Reported by This is 3 hours ago.