A horrific toothed worm the size of a two-year-old child has washed up on a British beach, sparking comparisons with the massive sand worms from the movie Dune.
The blood-sucking “vampire fish” with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth was found washed up on the beach near Exmouth Marina in Devon by Will Miles.
The 23-year-old was taking an after work stroll by the sea last week when he came across the bizarre creature. “"It was very noticeable, lying in the centre part of the beach near the tideline - I was on a walk after work,“ he said.
The creature has a mouth full of razor sharp teeth (Credit: Jarco Havermans via Pen News)He described its appearance as "like a hugely oversized leech with a sucker full of sharp, inward-pointing teeth." He wasn’t far off, the creature was in fact a sea lamprey - a species which sucks the blood of their prey, like a leech, giving them the name “vampire fish”.
They were once a common sight in UK waters but they have become rare, with their decline blamed on low water quality and man-made barriers in the rivers where they breed.
Man fined £165 after outraging the internet by dying puppy to look like Pikachu
Warehouse worker Will from Bovey Tracey, estimated it was about 80cm long - just short of the height of an average two-year-old. "I was very surprised," he said. "I'd never seen one washed up before and expected I never would."
Will said the creature was around 80cm long (Credit: Pen News/Will Miles)Will shared a photo of his discovery on a Facebook page for naturalists. And though some correctly identified the elusive species, others thought it looked like something out of the blockbuster Dune films, based on Frank Herbert's sci-fi novels.
"Looks like the sandworm from Dune," wrote one person. "So that's where Frank Herbert got his sandworms from," added another. "Only just seen the film and that's where my head went straight away," replied a third. One person, referring to the fictional world where the series is set, asked: "Is this on Arrakis?"
The creature's mouth is full of sharp, inward-pointing teeth (Credit: Pen News/Will Miles)Others called the creature "Shai-Hulud" - using the name given to the sandworms by the indigenous people of Arrakis, the Fremen. One joker asked: "Any spice around? I could do with some interstellar travel coming up to the elections."
For others, the creature was more horror than sci-fi. One comment read: "When I say I love the ocean, I really mean I love the surface. What goes on underneath is terrifying, and none of my business." "I'm never swimming in the sea again," said another. It was also described as a "fish of nightmares" and a "terrifying looking creature".
The creatures live by drinking the blood of their prey (Credit: Jarco Havermans via Pen News)Marine biologist Jarco Havermans, who made headlines last year when he became the first person in six years to find a sea lamprey on the Dutch island of Texel, described their life cycles.
He said: "For five years they live embedded in the bottom where they filter-feed detritus. After these five years they metamorphose into an adult sea lamprey which migrates to sea to live as a parasitic fish species on larger fish species and whales." The lamprey's victim does not usually survive the encounter. "For reproduction they migrate back to the rivers," he added.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
