BOLIVAR PENINSULA, Texas – An unusual, sharp-teethed sea creature surfaced on a Texas seashore and online this week, and many are still trying to figure out what exactly it is.
Brandy Artall found the creature on Thursday and snapped the photo before her friend, Patricia Ducote, shared it on the Bolivar Beachcombers Facebook page.
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The post’s comments section has gained a lot of traction, with some social media users speculating if it could be alien remains, a kraken, a sea urchin, and more.
“It’s what nightmares are made of,” said Facebook user Karolyn Willingham Matson.
“That’s a big pile of nope is what that is,” said Crystal Lynch.
KSAT 12 reached out to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to see if they could identify the creature in the photo.
According to Science Director of Coastal Fisheries, Mark Fisher, the image shows what is likely the gills and gill arches of a fish “that someone probably caught and filleted.”
Fisher couldn’t identify the species based on the single image but said it is most likely from a large sport fish.
“The feathery parts are the gills, which are attached to the bony gill arches. The spikey bits in the top middle are the pharyngeal teeth,” he said in a statement.
This isn’t the first strange creature found on a Texas seashore this year. In January, an unusual, eel-like creature with a long, slender body, sharp teeth and beady eyes was found on Port Bolivar Beach in Galveston Bay.
It was identified as a snapper eel, though they typically aren’t found washed up on the shoreline.
What do you think this unsightly creature is? Let us know in the comments!