A MYSTERY monster fish that reportedly tried to BITE people who came too close to its lake has finally been caught.

The fearsome creature - with a strong thick tail, rows of sharp teeth and powerful jaws - had terrified locals living near Lake Krugoe in Siberia.

3 Locals were terrified of this monster fish with a strong thick tail and a large head with piranha-like teeth Credit: CEN

3 After it was landed it was filmed chomping on a stick held out by a fisherman Credit: CEN

Some feared it was a "mutant" born after radioactive waste was dumped in the lake by a chemical factory.

And it is said to have tried to bite a number of people who had hoped for a close look at the freaky fish, according to reports in the Tomsk Oblast region.

Now the four-foot monster has finally been hooked by fishermen - and it looks even scarier on land.

Video footage shows it chomping down on a stick held out by one of the anglers as it writhes on the grass.

Viewers of the footage said it looks like a mutant cross with the head of a giant piranha and the body of cod-like fish called a burbot.

One said: "Geez, this creature looks both scary and disgusting."

MOST READ IN WORLD NEWS NONE THE WEISER Inside of this house is larger than life… CAN you see yourself living here? COV-ER & OUT Lockdown-free Sweden 'on brink of BEATING Covid after achieving herd immunity' GRINCHES Mum reveals HUGE Xmas gift haul for daughter - but some parents brand kid 'spoilt' 'TOUGH S**T' Lawyer refuses to scrap 'offensive' LGOPNR number plate.. can you work it out? RAPE HELL Mum gang-raped in front of husband & kids by armed robbers at own home in India DOWN THE PAN Model jailed for spate of masked robberies as her life ‘went down the toilet’ RAPE HELL Schoolgirl, 16, ‘gang-raped, killed and dumped to slowly die on building site’ OUT OF THIS WORLD Man transforms into 'alien' after having nose REMOVED & splitting tongue RAPE HORROR Two men arrested for ‘raping girl, 9, & gran, 73, in horrific sex attacks’ HUNKER DOWN 7m Madrid residents told not to leave home unless necessary as cases spike

Experts later ifentified it as a wolffish, a bottom-feeding predator normally found in the freezing Arctic sea.

The local fishing and hunting department said: "The mutant fish is nothing but a famous northern wolffish."

The northern wolffish is at risk of extinction and is a protected species in Canada - where Inuit fishermen know it as the "old woman fish" because of its ugly face.

3 It was feared it may be a radioactive mutant, but experts identified it as a wolffish Credit: CEN

Trawlermen chuck them back because their jelly-like flesh is unappetising.

In May we told how a Turkish farmer claimed to have found a mutant goat with a mouth growing inside its ear - complete with teeth and saliva.

And a cyclops goat with one eye in the middle of its head terrified villagers in India.

In March we revealed a hairless mutant pig with an "elephant's trunk" growing out of its face died two hours after birth in China.

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368