Macduff Marine Aquarium is already host to some of the weirdest creatures in the north-east.
But this year an alien-like beast has made an appearance just in time for Easter.
The rabbit-eared barnacle was scrapped off the hull of a local fishing vessel which was in for cleaning.
One of the Macduff Shipyard painters brought the critter – officially a Choncoderma Auritum – into the nearby visitor attraction wrapped in a scrap of paper.
Although presumed dead when he was rushed to the aquarium several weeks ago, staff nursed “Bugs Bun-acle” back to health in seawater and he is now on show to the public.
At almost 3in-long, the barnacle has a long rubbery stalk with two odd protrusions.
Last night Chris Rowe, the aquarium display officer, said: “Bugs is a very funny looking animal – when you watch him he doesn’t seem to do much but hang in the water, but time-lapse video of him shows clearly how he moves on his bendy stalk to find food.
“We had to think carefully about which tank to display him in, since he would normally enjoy life on the open ocean. We eventually have put him in the muddy seafloor display, which has no fish to nibble his legs, and we hope he settles in to his new home.”
Experts at the centre said there are not many records of this kind of goose barnacle in the North Sea although they have been known to live attached to whales and ships, hitching a ride around the world’s oceans.