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By Rebecca Flood
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A video of a giant fish devouring a live crab with a satisfying crunch is going viral online, with the clip watched more than 20 million times.
The short video starts with a yellow crustacean standing at the bottom of a tank, when a patterned yellow pufferfish swims up next to it.
In a matter of seconds the fish hoovers up the crab and chomps it into numerous pieces, with the cracking of the shell clearly audible as the predator devours its meal.
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The Mbu pufferfish is the mascot of the Aquarium Co-op store, in Washington, and is called Murphy.
Worker, Cory McElroy, regularly shares feeding clips online of Murphy—who is almost two feet long—and the store even has a live cam so fans can check in on the "beloved" pufferfish.
Murphy's diet consists of shellfish, including mollusks, clams and mussels. He's also fed crustaceans, including fiddler crabs, which Cory adds into the tank live for the Mbu to hunt.
The viral feeding clip was later shared to TikTok by user Ryan, who said: "Turn up volume listen carefully."
Numerous people commented on the clip in horror, noting how the crab tried to pinch Murphy in defense before being eaten.
TikToker Itz_Mola wrote: "I just witnessed a murder."
User321name said: "I am traumatised by the millions of floating crab bits."
Octavio Wilson thought: "This feels illegal to watch."
Angela Mancilla spotted: "It even pinched the fishes side."
Though GreenPickle5 pointed out: "At least it was quick."
TikTok later added a warning to the video, saying: "This video may contain disturbing content. Viewer discretion is advised."
The carnivorous Tetraodon Mbu pufferfish, also known as the giant green pufferfish or giant freshwater pufferfish, is native to Africa, and can be found in Lake Tanganyika and the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Revealing more about Murphy's infamous diet, Aquarium Co-op wrote: "They need most of their diet to be shelled foods. Things like clams, muscles, snails, crayfish etc are all important pieces. This helps keep their oversized teeth also known as a beak trimmed down. I feed my MBU puffers shelled foods 5 days a week and softer foods 2 days a week. Things like cocktail shrimp, frozen blood worms etc.
"Live foods help stimulate the hunting instincts of the puffer, but can also bring in parasites. Also, there can be danger from claws from crayfish and fiddler crabs etc. It is recommended to cut one of the claws before feeding so the live food can't clamp an eye of the puffer."
The store even sells merchandise featuring the puffer's likeness, as they joked he's "melting hearts everywhere, Murphy shows no mercy and will melt yours next."
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