A SWIMMER on a holiday beach was taken to hospital after being bitten by a fish blamed for a number of previous attacks on tourists.

       Panicked bathers left the water after the alarm was raised, fearing it was a blue shark like the one seen at a nearby Benidorm beach earlier this month.

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       A swimmer was taken to hospital after being bitten by a fish blamed for a number of previous attacks on tourists in Spain Credit: Solarpix 4

       The unidentified middle-aged woman was bitten on her right foot while swimming at El Pinet beach on Spain’s Costa Blanca Credit: Solarpix

       But the culprit was believed to have been a bluefish, which can weigh as much as 30lbs and grow to 4ft long.

       The unidentified middle-aged woman was bitten on her right foot while swimming at El Pinet beach, just south of Alicante on Spain’s Costa Blanca.

       Lifeguards decided she should be seen by medics after giving her initial first aid at the scene.

       Local -officials have not made any official comment following Monday afternoon’s incident

       The red flag had been raised at the beach, although it was down to the state of the sea and not the incident itself.

       Bluefish are fast swimmers that prey on schools of forage fish, favouring the likes of anchovies, shrimp and squid.

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       The aggressive fish are known to inflict severe bites.

       In August 2019 a Spanish woman was left with a partially severed tendon in her foot after being bitten by what was thought to be a bluefish at El Rebollo beach, in the same region.

       And El Pinet beach was at the centre of another scare a month before that when a mystery fish bit two children aged seven and ten.

       An unidentified woman was bitten while swimming at El Pinet Beach, Spain 4

       Lifeguards treat the woman’s injuries on the beach in Spain Credit: Solarpix

       Brits flee Benidorm beach after massive killer SHARK spotted just yards from shore