Little brother who posed with fish in his mouth in hilarious family photo won the internet

Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 8, 2021. It has since been updated. 

A photo of three brothers posing with a fish for a photo is appreciated by many on the internet. As any parent will tell you, it's never easy getting kids to pose for a picture, let alone three kids. Marika Daniels thought she had succeeded when she got her three children—Levi, 4, Logan, 3 and Landon Daniels, 18 months—into the frame and holding a fish in front of a pond at a children's museum in Brookings, South Dakota. Just as Marika Daniels clicked the shutter, Landon Daniels put the fish in his mouth, gifting the internet a meme.

The photo shows two brothers holding a faux fish each and posing, while the youngest and smallest of the three puts the fish in his mouth. They posed for a photo in front of a pond pretending to have caught a fish. The photo was cute and their mom, Marika Daniels, posted it on Facebook. Within no time, the image eventually turned into a meme. 

"I originally posted it on my Facebook and my friends were saying how funny and cute [it was]," said Daniels, reported Good Morning America. She was surprised when it turned into an online meme. "It just spread like wildfire." The fish was actually made of rubber but it certainly didn't look like it was, and thus it looked hilarious. As the three held the faux fish, Daniels went to click the photo, only for Landon to steal the limelight by putting the "fish" in his mouth.

“When I was taking the picture, I was focused on getting Levi and Logan to look at my camera. I told everyone to hold the fish up by their face and Landon took it quite literally,” Daniels told NBC 5. “I didn't really realize he did that until after I looked through my pictures on the phone. I just giggled when I saw the picture. When I saw it I was like, 'Ugh, Landon,'" said Daniels, who hails from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. "He's just at that age where he puts everything in his mouth. They are rubber fish. They're not real fish. After I saw the picture I said, 'Oh my gosh, this is actually kind of funny,' and apparently everyone else thought so too."

The image turned into a meme with the caption "Every family has that one kid." Marika Daniels was surprised at how fast it caught on but she's happy the picture could bring joy to people. “I honestly was shocked - and I still kind of am - at how many times this picture has been shared. Never in a million years did I think this would go viral let alone turn into a meme. I think the world needs to smile and laugh more and I feel so honored this picture helped,” she said. Many posted nice comments under the image, with one calling Landon: Mr. Sushi. One person shared a similar story, writing, "My nephew loves fish and he tries licking bubbles while he tries to blow his breath end up licking it. I stopped him right away before he put it in his mouth lol."