It would not be any new thing to know that a human has got skin cancer after severe exposure to sun radiations, says a recent report published in the journal PLoS One. But the news - the disease has been contracted by a wild fish – would surely astonish one and all.

Researchers from the Newcastle University in the UK have found a particular species of fish, Great Barrier Reef, to have got melanomas. The same is being said to be highly possibly a consequence of ultra-violet radiations.

Nearly 136 coral trout were examined by the team starting from August 2010 to February 2012 in collaboration with researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science. It was found that some 15% of all these caught from Heron Island or One Tree Island, located south of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, were having dark lesions on their skin.

The team was able to conclude that these fishes were having the same characteristics as the species Xiphophorus has had during an experiment in labs, where it was developed.

However, Dr. Michael Sweet said, "Further work needs to be carried out to establish the exact cause of the cancer but having eliminated other likely factors, UV radiation appears to be the most likely cause”.