A fish called Paracanthopoma draculae?

BBC Science and Nature programme makers have discovered a new breed of fish deep in The Amazon and want web users to choose a name for the species by voting online.

The fish was discovered during the filming of forthcoming documentary Amazon Abyss, when a team of scientists and divers succeeded in diving 300 feet into the murky depths of the Amazon River system for the first time ever.

The unnamed new species of fish is a nasty little thing - a smaller relative of the candiru, which is well known in the Amazon as a danger to people who go into the water, as it feeds parasitically by burrowing into body orifices, jamming itself in place using barbs along its sides then drinking the blood of its victim.

The new fish species is about 25mm long and is said to feed off larger fish by swimming into their gill slits and sucking their blood.

There are five names to choose from, all with a vampire or parasitical theme. Vote on the Amazon Abyss web site where you can also watch a clip of the team discovering the fish.

The programme is on BBC1 at 7PM everyday this week.