A woman was walking the beach and found a bizarre creature that the netizens couldn't identify.
Strange Sea Creature Washed Ashore in Crystal Beach
Suzanne Choate Arceneaux, is a frequent visitor of Port Bolivar Beach in Galveston Bay. On Jan. 4, she was walking Crystal beach and noticed many dead things like seagulls, pelicans, stingrays and tons of jellyfish.
However, what caught her attention was a bizarre sea creature that she couldn't identify. In an interview with KSAT, Arceneaux said she had never seen anything like it.
The eel-like creature had a long, slender body, sharp teeth, an open mouth, short and stout fins and beady eyes.
— Nicholas Douglas (@Readers_Dht06) January 20, 2023
She took photos of it and uploaded them on Facebook's Bolivar Beachcombers group in the hope of identifying it.
Due to its strange and creepy appearance, the netizens also struggled to identify it. One said it looked like something that came from the depths of hell. Another said it was similar to the sandworm from Beetlejuice.
A different commenter suggested that it could be a deep sea lizard. Meanwhile, many suggested that it was probably some eel due to its long body. After much speculation, Arceneaux said it was a snapper eel. However, those creatures do not usually wash up on shore.
Mark Fisher, the TWPD Coastal Fisheries Science Director, also identified the creature as a snapper eel to San Antonio Express-News. The creature is reportedly somewhat common in Galveston Bay. However, they usually stay burrowed; that's why most people do not see them.
Seth Patterson, a Conservation Consultant at San Antonio Water System in Texas, also suggested that it was a snapper eel. According to him, snapper eels are common inhabitants of the sandy coastline of the Gulf Cost. However, they are often among the casualties when the temperature dramatically drops.
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What is a Snapper Eel?
According to Marine Species Identification Project, a snapper eel has a narrow and elongated body like eels. They usually have ton colors with brown spots, which are larger in smaller eels.
They have a flat skull, and a large mouth with an upper jaw slightly extended past their lower jaw. They have small eyes anterior to the middle of the upper jaw, and sometimes, they appear to lack eyes at first glance. It has a dorsal fin, starting behind the pectoral fin, fleshy tail but no rays.
It can be distinguished by its spotted body, V-shaped head, short snout, fleshy tail and pectoral fin. They are reportedly abundant in the gulf or the bay. According to Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, they can be found in the Gulf of Mexico to Brazil.
Snapper eel, also called snapper spoon-nose eel or stippled spoon-nose eel, can grow up to 180 centimeters.
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