12 June 2023 , 08:12
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A blood-sucking “vampire fish” has been caught with a mouthful of swirling teeth – and it looks like a Star Wars movie monster.
That’s the verdict of Eric Osinskie, a lifelong fisherman who caught his “weirdest catch ever” in Catskill Creek, in the US state of New York.
Eric caught the gross-looking beast on Sunday afternoon, June 4, and couldn't quite believe what he had snared at first.
“I thought it was a stick at first as it was dead weight," he said.
“Then, when I got it in my net, I thought it was an eel – it kinda looked like a cross between an eel and a leech.
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“But I knew what it was as soon as I picked it up out of my net.
The shocked fisherman holds up his catch (Credit: Eric Osinskie/Pen News)
The strange creature caught by Mr Osinskie (Credit: Eric Osinskie/Pen News)“It was cool and I have never seen one in person before – its mouth looked kinda like the Sarlacc pit monster from Star Wars.”
Mr Osinskie, 41, had landed a sea lamprey – a parasitic creature whose appetite for blood has earned it the nickname “vampire fish.”
They’re also incredibly old – the species dates back some 400 million years; hence why some call them “living dinosaurs.”
The creature's many rows of jagged teeth (Credit: Jarco Havermans/Pen News)And since they don’t have jaws, it’s lucky that Eric caught it at all.
He said: “It was a last minute trip – my 17-year-old son wanted to go swimming so he did that while I fished for trout.
“I actually caught it by mistake as they have no bones, therefore no jaws to bite – I foul hooked it on a retrieve after a cast.
Picture shows another lamprey found on the Dutch island of Texel earlier this year (Credit: Jarco Havermans/Pen News)“I have never seen one in the wild before; I have been an avid fisherman my whole life and it was by far the weirdest thing I have ever caught.”
Photos of the creature, shared by Mr Osinskie with the Catskill Outdoors Facebook group, reveal its imposing mouth lined with sharp teeth.
It’s easy to spot the resemblance to the Sarlacc depicted in Star Wars – a monster whose circular mouth is ringed with giant spear-like teeth.
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Eric Osinskie has fished all his life (Credit: Eric Osinskie/Pen News)Marine biologist Jarco Havermans, who discovered another sea lamprey washed up on the Dutch island of Texel earlier this year, described the life of the bizarre species.
He said: “The sea lamprey parasitizes on other fish by sucking blood and other bodily fluids from their prey, so that is how they got the nickname vampire fish.
“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,” added Mr Havermans.
After a couple of photos, Eric unhooked his catch and returned it to the water.