Fishermen claim to have spotted an amphibious creature resembling a human in the Caspian sea.

Gafar Gasanof, the captain of the Baku, an Azeri trawler, told Iranian newspaper Zindagi: "The creature was swimming a parallel course near the boat for a long time.

"At the beginning we thought it was a big fish, but then we spotted hair on the head of the monster and his fins looked pretty strange, the front part of his body was equipped with arms."

According to the paper the 'man of the sea' has been spotted with increasing regularity since off-shore oil production began in the Caspian.

Eyewitness say the marine humanoid is about 5ft 6ins, of strong build with a protruding stomach, webbed hands and black-green hair.

His lower lip is said to join smoothly to his neck above the gills.