‘A horror movie.’ Mysterious eel-like creature caught off Australia ignites debate
A nightmarish sea creature caught off New South Wales, Australia, has ignited debate after a professional angler admitted he was baffled by it.
The snake-like creature appears to be a type of large eel, with startled-looking eyes, a cavernous mouth and teeth like twisted nails.
“It’s a new one for me and I’ve been commercially fishing for 50 years,” Trapman Australia, also known Jason Moyce, wrote in a Jan. 3 Facebook post.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s not a pike eel, or a silver eel. The teeth look like some kind of Moray eel. But the face is very blunt. It was about 9 (feet) long.”
Details of who caught it were not revealed, but it came out of the Pittwater estuary in southeast Australia.
Multiple photos were shared with Trapman Australia’s 250,000-plus Facebook followers, including one showing the beast trailed nearly the length of the boat.
It was tan in color, with a muscular body, angular snout and an extra set of teeth growing from the roof of its mouth.
The photos had racked up 1,350 reactions and comments as of Jan. 8, including some who couldn’t help but notice it looked old and very angry. Others said the creature represented everything they found “terrifying” about the ocean.
“That’s a horror movie,” Elle McFerguson posted on Facebook.
“That’s not coming in the boat, just saying,” Colin Thompson wrote.
“Cut the line & let it go. It looks evil,” DarrellnNorma Long said.
“Just imagine that coming up your swimsuit!” Jeremy D. Huxol posted.
Many commenters offered guesses, including conger eel, long tail moray and green moray. But Trapman Australia said the creature doesn’t coincide with accepted descriptions for any of those eel species.
“Most of the comments were not even close,” he told McClatchy News.
Australia’s waters are home to “more than 60 described species” of moray eel, so even the most-experienced angler can be forgiven for not knowing them all.
They are largely nocturnal carnivores, ranging from 8 inches to more than 13 feet, and their teeth are often referred to as fangs, Fishes of Australia reports.
“Morays, especially large species with long, sharp teeth are often feared,” the site reports. “While usually not aggressive, they may inflict a nasty bite when molested.”
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