A solitary sunfish at an aquarium in Japan lost its appetite, began banging into the side of the fishtank and appeared unwell days after the facility closed last month for renovations.

How do you perk up a lonely fish? This may sound like the start of a particularly silly joke, but it was a very real challenge faced by staff at a Japanese aquarium when they noticed their sunfish was ailing.

Aquarium tapes human cutouts to tank after lonely sunfish refuses to eat alone - The sunfish ate for the first time in about a week after human cutouts were used

Japanese aquarium staff used cut-out human companions to cheer up a lonely sunfish, leading to improved health.

A solitary sunfish at an aquarium in Japan lost its appetite, began banging into the side of the fishtank and appeared unwell days after the facility closed last month for renovations