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Swiss scientists have unveiled a robotic swimming machine which can move through the water like a real fish.

The machine's undulating fins can be controlled individually, allowing the robot to swim around in any direction.

Sepios was inspired by the cuttlefish, which is known for its intelligence and chameleon-like ability to change colour.

But it could also be said that four-finned Sepios resembles the brush from inside a Dyson hoover, although it is far less noisy.

Its inventors hope that it will inspire a new generation of super-quiet boats which dispense with deafening propellers.

Whales and dolphins are known to be stressed by the sound of propellers and can be injured when they stray too close to boats.

Sepios swims like a cuttlefish

The RoboFish is the work of Pascal Buholzer and a team of students from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich.

Sepios is much more maneuverable than an ordinary deep sea robot and is able to swim through forests of underwater plants without getting tangled up.

This means it would be great for shooting footage of wild fish.

Sadly, unlike a cuttlefish, Sepios probably doesn't taste very nice with white wine and garlic.