Alex Pikul, 31, was enjoying a picturesque dive along the coast of Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt when a horrifying triggerfish that looked like it ‘had dentures’ charged at his leg and attacked him
The triggerfish’s odd human-like teeth sunk into the diver’s leg (Image: Kennedy News / Mar Hosted Trips)
An unlucky bloke was left screaming in pain after a raging fish with creepy protruding teeth took a chomp out of his leg.
Alex Pikul was scuba-diving off the coast of Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt when he was attacked by a terrifying triggerfish that looked like it “had human teeth and dentures”.
The 31-year-old was one of a group of eight led by the owner of boutique scuba diving company Mar Hosted Trips, Maira, when a strong current pushed them to change their course.
They ended up unintentionally swimming over a nest of eggs before a male triggerfish, seemingly fearing his offspring was at risk, launched the assault and began chasing them.
Alex, from Alabama in the United States, explained: “I (thought I was) in the clear because the triggerfish swam off so I turned around and swam away following the rest of the group, but all of a sudden it chomped on my leg.
“The way I felt it I thought it probably broke skin and I would be bleeding – you can hear me shout out some cuss words underwater.”
The species is notoriously ill-tempered particularly when guarding nests and are known to charge and bite intruders, as Alex swiftly discovered after unintentionally entering the territory of one.
Despite the strong current and being bitten, he says the “challenging” dive was his favourite and he doesn’t hold a grudge against the grumpy fish for simply defending its eggs.
The creatures’ comical teeth are used alongside strong jaws to tackle tough prey including crabs and sea urchins.
Alex added: “I’ve seen triggerfish before but when I saw the video of it coming back I thought it was hilarious – you never really get that close of a shot of what their teeth look like.
“It’s a face only a mother could love – goofy, ugly-looking fish with human-like teeth. They look too big for his mouth, almost like he’s got dentures or something.
“The bite left a bruise and welt in the shape of its teeth for the rest of the trip which was quite funny.”
