LONDON -- A stressed-out spotted fish in a British aquarium has calmed down after finding its perfect match -- a lookalike plastic dice.
Dotty, a highly toxic boxfish -- also known as dicefish because of its square shape and spotty coloring- arrived at Bournemouth Oceanarium in southern England last month.
But the pea-sized tropical fish, which releases venom when anxious, was so unhappy that staff feared it could kill itself with its own poison.
"We finally went out and bought a real dice and popped it in the tank hoping Dotty might think it was another fish," displays manager Kris Pring told Reuters on Thursday.
"It did the trick and now Dotty won't leave it alone. The pair are inseparable."
Pring said Dotty probably thought the dice was a potential mate or possibly even a parent.
"Whenever someone approaches, Dotty scoots over and hides behind the dice which is much bigger than the fish."
The pale yellow and black boxfish can grow to more than a foot in length and is commonly found throughout the Indo-Pacific.
Pring said the lovestruck Dotty would stay in quarantine until she got much bigger and would then go on public display.
