Rare, Menacing-Looking Deep Sea Fish With Needle Sharp Teeth Washes Up on California Beach
A California man recently made a shocking discovery at California's Torrey Pines State Beach.
On Nov. 13, while at the San Diego beach, Jay Beiler thought he saw a jellyfish washed up on the shore. Once Beiler got closer to the creature, he discovered it was a rare Pacific footballfish with a menacing appearance, KTRK-TV reported.
"At first I thought it was a jellyfish or something, and then I went and looked at it a little more carefully, and some other people were gathered around it too, and then I saw that it was this very unusual fish ... It's the stuff of nightmares — mouth almost looked bloody! I'd say it was nearly a foot long," said Beiler per KTRK-TV.
According to the California Academy of Sciences, the Pacific footballfish is one of more than 300 living species of anglerfish, a deep-sea fish.
The question of how the fish washed up ashore remains somewhat of a mystery considering Pacific footballfish live 2,000 to 3,300 feet deep in the ocean where there is no sunlight.
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The fish have globe-shaped bodies, prickly skin, minuscule eyes, and needle-sharp teeth.
According to ABC 7 Los Angeles, another Pacific footballfish sighting occurred in May in Orange County near Crystal Cove State Park.
At that time, park officials described the fish in a Facebook post, noting that the species has "teeth like pointed shards of glass" and a large mouth "capable of sucking up and swallowing prey the size of their own body."
