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Lazarus the wonder fish

PaulLB

Member
Joined
18 Dec 2022
Messages
135
Location
Cheltenham
This is a fishy tale, but I promise you 100% true.

My wife came back from a few days in London celebrating Chinese New Year with her girlfriends bearing a large box of fresh fish from the fishmonger in Greenford.

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There was a mixture of Seabass (for me) and Crucian carp (for her) packed in ice from the fish counter in the store, 10 of each so 20 fish in total.

Next photo was taken by my wife in the shop shortly before she bought the fish.
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It was late Friday when she got home so we put the box in the refrigerator and resolved to gut and prep them the next day.

We went about our business most of Saturday and only in the evening did my wife set about preparing the fish; some to eat that night and the rest for the freezer.

With the seabass all done, halfway through washing the Crucian Carp and before gutting them, she noticed one of the fish twitching and she calls me over in amazement.

Initially we figured it must be some kind of weird chemical reaction, but then I noticed its gills moving, just once. We grabbed a bowl and popped the fish in some tap water. It was lying on its side and listing heavily to starboard, but those gills were definitely going.

I was in two minds about putting the poor devil out of its presumed misery, but I thought let’s give the fellow a chance.

Remarkably by the next day he had made a full recovery and is now living in our bath:
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Fortunately we have a separate shower, which is just as well, but this is clearly not an arrangement that can persist indefinitely, so “Lazarus”, as he is now known, will need to be rehoused; if for no other reason than my wife now pays this fish more attention than she does me - and you can see how quickly things can change round here - he was dinner 24 hours previously, and I’ve been sleeping with one eye open ever since.

In all seriousness. I don’t have the space for an aquarium large enough or a suitable pond for Lazarus, so if there is anybody out there who would like to give “Lazarus the wonder fish” a home, where I think he truly deserves to live out a long life, then please let me know!

We are based in a Cheltenham in Gloucestershire.
 
but I promise you 100% true
Haha amazing story.

Carp in general seem to have masterd dealing with periods of anoxia, these anoxic water bodies usually occur when temperatures plummet and freeze over.
Crucian carp haven't just masterd this, they are the 5th dan, Chuck Norris, Harry Houdini's of the hold your breath world.

How's this possible? Well in layman's terms they store up elevated levels of glycogen when the water starts to cool, they then seemingly have the ability to down regulate their internal organs to a practical stand still, and use the stored glycogen to provide enough energy to feed these organs.

Does this detract from the above story... not at all... the fact this fish survived is indeed a miracle.

 
You could always release it into the wild. There is some debate as to whether crucian carp is native or introduced, and if so when.
But it's probably been a few centuries either way, so it's as good as naturalised. Regardless, I think Lazarus has ernt his/her freedom.
 
Somewhere like a big store might have a big pond for him and his story should be a big customer draw
 
Thinking more probable like a reputable company in a garden centre were space not a problem . Sure the story alone would have a good financial impact for the company.
 
Pretty amazing they can do that... however, we see that all the time here in Minnesota especially during the winter when we ice fish and the fishes are kept cold (often basically in a bucket with snow) and their metabolism are at its very lowest level. I personally do not like the idea of freshly caught fish, thats going to end up on my dinner table anyway, are kept alive for an extended period of time outside their natural environment, but many fishermen pretty much don't kill the fish until they gut them alive which sometimes happens as late as a day or two after the catch.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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I’m pleased to share that Lazarus has found a new home with a Luke and Rebecca and their lovely family in Gloucestershire. Pics of his new accommodation below. Thanks to everyone who showed support and interest in his story, let’s wish him a long and happy life!

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I’m pleased to share that Lazarus has found a new home with a Luke and Rebecca and their lovely family in Gloucestershire. Pics of his new accommodation below. Thanks to everyone who showed support and interest in his story, let’s wish him a long and happy life!

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Ah, lovely! Have a great life, Lazarus! 😊
 
You could always release it into the wild. There is some debate as to whether crucian carp is native or introduced, and if so when.
But it's probably been a few centuries either way, so it's as good as naturalised. Regardless, I think Lazarus has ernt his/her freedom.

Wild Carp in any form was introduced into Europe with the migration of the Roman legions... They found this extremely hardy fish in central Asia and soon realised since it can survive such harsh conditions it was a perfect fresh food supply to travel in barrels with them. Everywhere the Romans went the Carp went with them, along the way they were dumped into the local ponds to breed as consumption fish.

Much later after the Romans the Spanish, English and Dutch brought them to the rest of the world's colonies for the very same reason making them cosmopolitan. They are literally everywhere...

Many years ago I worked as an employee in a pond/fishing gear shop and back then live bait to catch Pike, Bass and Eal etc. was still allowed. We had a huge number of German and Dutch customers standing in line next to the container with the captive-bred live Crucian Carp. That was a flourishing business... I'm not surprised if the number of leftover fish dropped in the ponds and rivers after the fishing session ended is equally huge. You can bet that the deed/harm is already done 10 times over in history.

:thumbup:
 
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Look what just popped up on my FB feed! Lazarus is Hampshire famous!
Funny story. I originally contacted the local online newspaper Gloucestershire Live to see if an article might lead to somebody offering Lazarus a new home. I heard nothing for a week and I found him a new home straight away on Pets4Homes website anyhow.

Following week I get a call from a lady at the newspaper. I explain the fish is already gone. She’s says doesn’t matter it’s an interesting story anyhow and asks me for a photo of me and the missus.

I didn’t honestly think anymore of it. Fast forward a couple of days and it’s in all the online new sites like ITVx, Daily Mirror, the Metro. I’ve had friends from all over the country calling me about Lazarus as his story popped up in their local online news outlet, it’s bonkers.

Most unbelievable of all I get a phone call from a producer chap at ITV wanting to send a camera crew round to do a live interview! I’m said no. This circus needs to leave town now.
 
Give a nudge to a publisher there's a book to write, it could even be a childrens book, because it's a true story
 
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