Terrifying footage captured the moment a massive fish chomped its jaws down on the head of a woman dressed as a mermaid as she performed underwater for children at a Chinese aquarium.
The Russian aquatic artist, identified only as Masha, was swimming in a tank at the Xishuangbanna Primitive Forest Park in southern China on Tuesday when she swam in the path of the beast, according to The Daily Mail.
The fish bites down on Masha, 22, nearly fitting her whole head in its mouth while children and other spectators yell in horror, the clip shows.
Masha fights back and is able to free herself from the fish, which ripped off her goggles, before swimming quickly to the surface.
The performer suffered head, neck and eye injuries, according to Russian media reports, which published photos of her bruised and cut-up face.
Masha claims her employer forced her back in the water despite being in pain and warned her not to share footage of the attack, but the clip quickly went viral on Douyin – the Chinese-language version of TikTok.
They paid her less than $100 in compensation, she claimed.
Reports did not indicate what kind of fish was involved, however the freshwater aquarium holds native species from the Mekong and Yangtze Rivers, according to The Daily Mail.