Where you would expect plain scales, the fish has intricate blue designs of a crown and a shield, lettering and entwined plant leaves instead.
The fishermen who caught it were amazed to see it, and photographed it next to a regular fish to show the difference.
Since the image was posted on local channel GMA News, it has sparked thousands of comments from people trying to work out what happened.
One possibility is that it was genuinely tattooed and then thrown back in the sea by somebody.
Perhaps a more likely answer was offered by Steve Clark, who wrote: ‘This was probably caused by some sort of trash or fabric that had been embedded in the fish’s skin and over time imprinted this design onto it. Just a thought.’
The fish, caught by fishermen in the province of Lopez, Jaena, Misamis Occidental, has even been accused of having some kind of mystical connection, such as being the reincarnation of a god.
Others suggested: ‘There are many things in our world that we do not know about, especially under the sea. Remember, the sea is greater than land.’
Another (stretching it a bit) asked if they fish may have escaped from an underwater jail where marine biologists mark marine creatures with strange symbols.
