This is the moment a rare air-breathing fish that had spent its entire six years of life in an increasingly small aquarium smashes through the lid and lands on the floor.

CCTV camera footage shows a barechested man working on fixing a bamboo pole to a broken room when the fish smashes against the lid of the tiny aquarium.

Seconds later it tries again, and this time the lid comes flying free with the fish launching through the air and landing on the floor among plants which appear to be on sale in the store in the city of Baoding in Hebei province, China, on June 5.

The man runs off to get help while the huge fish writhes around on the floor sending flowerpots scattering. A short while later the man returns and they are seen attempting to put the injured fish back into the aquarium where it later died.

The owner said it was a six-year-old Arapaima fish that he had managed to grow to 1.6 metres and was worth more than RMB 50,000(GBP 5,400).

He said it was not only very expensive, but it was a pet and he was devastated at its loss.

The Arapaima is native to the Amazon River Basin in South America and is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world.

The adult fish can reach two to six metres in length. They live relatively freely in the natural environment, but in artificial environments, especially when they are raised in fish tanks, they often become irritable due to space restrictions and environmental changes, and even jump out of the tank.

The International Red List of Endangered Species does not categorise how much threat it is under because they do not have sufficient data to estimate.