A fisherman found a bizarre, alien-like sea creature and shared a video of the beast struggling to be freed on social media. Many urged the fisherman to set the mysterious beastie free.
Fisherman Shares A Video of a Transparent, Alien-Like Sea Creature Struggling To Be Free
One fisherman shared a clip of a rare find from the ocean on Twitter. Many were stunned to see a completely see-through sea creature that the poster described as "alien-like."
The small creature is transparent and settles between the fisherman's thumb and finger. It has a small transparent head, gelatinous-looking body sack, antennae, or legs.
The only seemingly unclear part of the sea beastie is its head, which presumably hosts its brain above its black eyes. Below its eyes appears to be countless legs or teeth that move at a rapid pace while it helplessly struggles to be free while being held against its will.
The clip received mixed responses from the netizens. Many hoped that the fisherman set the creature free. "One that is struggling to survive in your hand. Hopefully, you put him back," historian Scott Cardinal commented. "It's wild to see how many people find messing with wildlife as a form of entertainment. I saw people get angry at someone for being upset that a lizard was superglued to a branch to be devoured by a mantis on camera. It really doesn't take a lot to imagine, 'what if that were me?'" another added. Meanwhile, many were wondering what the creature was. One netizen shared a photo of a pram bug or Phronima from an animal docuseries, and the alien-like sea creature that the fisherman captured looked exactly like it.
What is Phronima?
Phronima is a small, translucent crustacean about an inch or 2.5 centimeters. The pram-pushing, barrel-riding parasite is believed to be the inspiration behind the film Alien.
According to The Conversation, tiny creatures can be seen throughout the world's oceans, except in polar regions, swimming in open water. Unlike its relatives, the crabs, for example, Phronima breaks free of the sea floor and takes advantage of another sea creature, the salp, to survive in the open water.
Salps are barrel-shaped, gelatinous zooplankton that drifts throughout the ocean. They may occur individually or in huge chains composed of interlinked individual salps.
Phronima attacks those vulnerable creatures and makes them their hosts. It carves the salps' insides, leaving them empty before Phronima climbs inside and sails the sea from within, feeding off it.
The Conversation notes that it's difficult to study Phronima because it needs to be studied alive before the salp structure is affected by air. Salps that have been hollowed out by Phronima show that they still contain live cells, helping the barrel maintain its structure to provide Phronima a home.
However, hollowed-out salp barrels hardly resemble a living salp, with just the tissue remaining. The outlet noted that Phronima should be considered a parasitoid rather than a parasite.
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