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Fisherman: 'Tunicorn' tuna had horn on its head

Kim Haskell says horn embedded in head of "tunicorn" appeared to be a sailfish's bill.

By Ben Hooper
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BLOOMFIELD, Australia, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The Australian fishermen who reeled in what's been dubbed a "tunicorn" said the fish's large forehead horn appeared to be the bill of a sailfish.

Kim Haskell, 64, of Bloomfield, said he was fishing with his brother, Jamie, and his nephew, Christopher, near Osprey Reef off the coast of Queensland when Christopher reeled in an 88-pound dogtooth tuna with a large horn protruding from the center of its head.

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Haskell said it appeared the bill of sailfish had become embedded in the fish's head.

"It looked to me like the only way it could have gotten there is that there was a feeding frenzy. My guess is there was a bait ball, and the sailfish must have speared the tuna by mistake, and the bill snapped off," he told Daily Mail Australia.

"The area around the bill was well healed, which makes me think that it had been sticking out of the tuna's head for months or maybe years," Haskell said.

Haskell said he and his fishing family removed the bill and released the tuna, but the fish's injury apparently attracted sharks that made quick work of the "tunicorn," as it has been nicknamed on social media.

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