Chances of survival for Solero looked grim after he was blown off course in the Gulf Stream and ended up in a tidal pool at Beaumaris, Anglesey.

But after a lifeboat rescue, the endearing creature - which looks like a giant head, and has a parrot-like beak, no tail and two giant dorsal fins - is settling down to life at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

The two foot long fish is enjoying 100gm of fresh mussels a day from the local supermarket.

Mussels will be on the menu for the next few weeks, before cockles, sprats and spinach will be added to the diet, which is rather more up-market than its usual fare of jellyfish.

Solero is being given round-the-clock attention and has been placed on a course of antibiotics.

Staff at the aquarium will be attempting to rehabilitate Solero for release next year, before he gets too big for his new home.

Curator Colin Grist said: "It's called a sunfish because in the wild it floats on its side as if it is sunbathing. It's also sometimes called a headfish because it looks just like one big head. Its fins let it drift in ocean currents. Quite often people think it's a shark because of the big dorsal fin.

"At the moment its chances of survival aren't too bad. There are other aquariums who have kept them alive, it's certainly got more chance than in the Irish Sea."

Marine experts believe global warming and warm waters may have brought Solero further north than normal, where he became tired and stopped feeding.