A blood-sucking ‘vampire’ creature with a mouth full of swirling teeth has been found on a British beach.
The sea lamprey – a species known for sucking the blood of their prey – was spotted on the beach near Exmouth Marina in Devon.
Will Miles, 26, encountered the bizarre creature and said: “It was very noticeable, lying in the centre part of the beach near the tideline – I was on a walk after work.
“It was like a hugely oversized leech with a sucker full of sharp, inward-pointing teeth.”
“It was like a hugely oversized leech with a sucker full of sharp, inward-pointing teeth”
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Once widespread in the UK, the sea lamprey are now rare, with their decline blamed on low water quality and man-made barriers in the rivers where they breed.
Miles, a warehouse worker 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.”
Keen to share his strange discovery, Will posted a photo 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.
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Once widespread in the UK, the sea lamprey are now rare
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“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?”
While 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, with one comment writing: “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”.
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.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
