A giant fish which can grow up to two metres in length has made her British debut thanks to a swap with an Italian aquarium.

Cornelia, a stone bass, was released into Plymouth's National Marine Aquarium's Eddystone tank following a four-week quarantine.

Named after the wife of Rome's most famous emperor, Cornelia is set to replace firm favourite Caesar, another stone bass who died last year.

She is thought to be 10 years old and has spent the last five years at Oltremare Aquarium in Rimini, Italy.

She was collected by two of the aquarium's team, James Wright and Chris Challen, who drove to Italy via France, Switzerland and Germany non-stop for 27 hours in a Transit van containing a 1,000-litre tank filled with rays and flat fish to swap for Cornelia.

After an overnight stay in Rimini, the duo and Cornelia made the trek back to Plymouth.

Stone bass are also known as a wreckfish because they often lives near floating lumber and other wreckage to feed on the fishes that, in turn, gather to feed on the small organisms found there.