Oh dear, oh dear! - someone has been bringing Catfish into disrepute - read this story from Tuesday's (English)Guardian:

Lake fear

A giant catfish dubbed Hannibal the Cannibal - because it regurgitated 57 fish when it was caught - has been removed to stop it wrecking a West Sussex lake's ecosystem.

Environment agency officials confessed to being extremely surprised by the catch - the 5ft Wels catfish is not a British fish and should not have been there.

Staff had been routinely netting in Shillinglee Lake, near Billingshurst, West Sussex, to assess fish stocks when Hannibal was caught. Europe's largest freshwater species, the Wels catfish does live in the Rhine but is normally from the warmer waters of southern Europe.

It is a fierce predator and can eat ducks and small mammals. Hannibal weighed 15lb but the European record is 62lb.

Officials feared Hannibal would clear the 30-acre lake of fish if it reached its full potential length of 16ft. The 57 roach and bream it had eaten just before it was caught compare with the average four fish found in the stomach of large pike.

It is believed that someone with an unwanted pet, or an angler who relished catching the fish, which is "extremely powerful and puts up a huge fight", had released it in the lake illegally. The environment agency spokesman said the catfish had been "wreaking havoc, chomping through fish stocks and upsetting the natural ecological balance".

Last night Hannibal was in the Sea Life Centre in Brighton, where he or she has been "rehomed". Catfish can only be kept if the owner has a licence.