Experts have managed to identify a mysterious fish that was spotted on the Gulf Coast earlier this year.
Suzanne Choate Arceneaux uploaded an image of a strange fish that had washed ashore on a Texas beach on January 9 to a Facebook page known as Bolivar Beach Bombers. Port Bolivar is an unincorporated community located on the Bolivar Peninsula near Galveston.
Images of this creature reveal an elongated body and what appears to be an extended jaw. Multiple citizens commented on the creature’s similarities to aliens from popular movies, with one dubbing the creature a “hell naw fish.”
Arceneaux posted the image in an attempt to identify the creature she found. Officials from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) appear to have an answer.
TPWD Coastal Fisheries Science Director Mark Fisher told My San Antonio that the creature appeared to be a snapper eel.
Snapper eels, otherwise known as stippled spoon-nose eels, are a type of eel that can be found in the Gulf of Mexico and along coasts in the area. Snapper eels can grow to be up to six feet long and are distinguished by their V-shaped heads and spotted bodies.
TPWD officials could not confirm why this creature had washed up.
However, this is not the only or most recent discovery of a strange creature washing up on these shores.
Patricia Ducote posted an image of another unidentified creature that a friend of hers had discovered in the same Facebook group on April 13. A single image reveals the discovery of a pale, flat creature with what appear to be teeth or suckers on one side of its body and bristle-like features on the other.
Like the previous post in January, viewers reacted to the post with a mixture of horror and intrigue. Some users suggested that the person had discovered the jaws and gills of a large fish or the body of a scale worm.
Officials have yet to determine what manner of creature was found in the latest post.
