They call him Hannibal - a fish with as much appetite for his freshwater peers as Dr Lecter has for human victims.

Environment Agency staff stumbled across the metre-long monster during a routine survey of fish stocks at Shillinglee Lake, near Petworth.

When they pulled the 8kg wels catfish from the water they were stunned to see him regurgitate 57 other fish.

The creature, whose whiskers measure 30cm, has now been rehoused at the Sea Life Centre in Brighton, where he has been named Hannibal the Cannibal after the Silence Of The Lambs baddie.

An Environment Agency spokesman described the wels as "really nasty-looking."

He said: "They are usually unstoppable, worse than Jaws. We were lucky to catch this one before it did too much damage.

"We can only guess that someone had illegally put Hannibal in there for their angling fun.

"These are extremely powerful and muscular fish that put up a huge fight. Some people see them as a challenge to land and then just throw them back.

"Meanwhile, Hannibal had been wreaking havoc on the local wildlife, happily chomping through fish stocks and upsetting the natural eco-balance."

Marcus Goodsir, displays curator at the Sea Life Centre, said the species originated in Russia.

He said: "They eat ducklings and water rats as well as other fish but we feed them mainly trout and fish pellets."