Chinese family names have been painted on fish in an aquarium to attract tourists, causing controversy.

In the footage, captured in the city of Guiyang in southwestern Guizhou Province on April 26, a board hung on the top of the fish tank with Chinese characters saying "find out which fish has your surname on its body".

The blood-red parrot cichlid fish in the tanks were seen with words painted onto their bodies.

A tourist named Xiao Tang said the aquarium should be a place encouraging people to protect animals but writing characters on fish against it.

A netizen also said: "It is a bit weird. I suggest the aquarium to stop doing that".

However, an employee from the aquarium explained they wanted to make the exhibition project more interactive and attract the children's attention.

They said the paint is edible and it is safe, so it will not hurt the fish. But they will take the tourists' advice into consideration and make some improvement in the future.

近日，有人在贵阳一家海洋馆发现，馆内有个“姓氏鱼”项目，“鱼缸里面所有鱼身上被写满了百家姓，让游客找自己的姓”。小棠认为，海洋馆应是向大家传递、科普保护海洋动物理念的场所，这种在鱼身上人为写字的行为与保护动物的理念有点背道而驰。
海洋馆工作人员回应，鱼缸里的鱼叫血红鹦鹉，是一种常见鱼类。之所以设计这样一个展览项目，一方面，该鱼缸位于一个转角处，之前比较少人关注到，所以想增加一些互动性的元素；另一方面，海洋馆也是一个科普教育基地，这样可以更加吸引小朋友的注意从而达到更好的科普效果。“鱼身上的红字，采用的是一种食品级的红色颜料，类似我们人吃的糕点上的那种，是安全无害的，不会对鱼的身体造成损害。”该工作人员称。（视频由贵州台提供）