While fishing with some friends near Kakadu National Park in Australia, Tee Hokin suddenly got a bite but she had trouble reeling in her catch.
It was somehow stuck to the boat but both her and her friends were determined to figure out just what exactly she had hooked.
Once they finally were able to get the “fish” unstuck — no one believed what they saw.
Why exactly?
Well the fish didn’t exactly look like a fish but more like an alien.
The “fish” had no eyes, no teeth and appeared to be made of glass.
It was long and slimy — and not a common sight!
“Honestly, the first thing I thought about was the ‘Alien’ movie with Sigourney Weaver and that thing that comes out of people’s stomach, that’s exactly what I thought, and that’s what they describe it as when you look it up on the internet,” Hokin shared with a local Australian news site.
Pictures of the bizarre creature have littered the internet and everyone seems to agree that aliens may be among us based on the fish’s appearance.
And while no one can be sure exactly what the fish was without having it studied — it looks to be a worm goby.
Worm goby’s are eel-like creatures that lives in muddy areas and are very rarely seen by anyone. They are also able to grow to be over a foot long and are not considered dangerous — despite their terrifying appearance.
And while the worm goby is not normally seen by humans — it is difficult to determine how this particular one got himself on the other end of a fishing pole.
But after a few pictures and a couple of gasps, the worm goby was returned into the water.
According to Seriously Fish, a goby or its scientific name, Taenioides cirratus,is defined as:
“…a mud-burrowing species that digs networks of sloping tunnels in the substrate in nature. Apparently each series of burrows has several openings, one of which has a mound outside.”
A substrate is defined as an underlying substance or layer.
“According to Itani and Uchino (2003), this mound suggests that the fish “actively process sediment”. Even more odd is its appearance. It has greatly reduced eyes, specialized bronchial chambers which [means] it can breathe air (allowing it so survive out of water for some time) and most crazy of all [it] has teeth on the outside of its mouth!”
So where exactly do these lil-freaky-guys live?
“This goby species inhabits coastal waters, estuaries and rivers of many parts of Indo-Pacific such as India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.” according to Practical Fishkeeping.
And why exactly does it look like the alien from Alien?!
“As it spends most of its life in darkness under the mud, it is no surprise that the eyes are reduced to tiny dots and they rely more on their sense of smell than sight while foraging for food. In the wild, this fish feeds on crustaceans and small fish.”
The goby – unlike other underwater creatures – also has a special superpower.
“As it is capable of taking in gulps of air directly from the surface, it is able to survive out of the water for a considerable period of time.”
And not to freak you out but they can get pretty big….
“Taenioides cirratus can grow to a foot in length.” according to Practical Fishkeeping.
EEEEEEEEK.
As Ariana Grande famously said…
“Thank you, next!”
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