Following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, a mysterious creature washed up on the shore.
Preeti Desai of the National Audubon Society went on Twitter for help identifying the animal, which has no eyes and razor-sharp fangs.
“Okay, biology twitter, what the heck is this?? Found on a beach in Texas City, TX. #wildlifeid,” she asked on Twitter.
Here's an ID on @preetalina's hideous eel! https://t.co/92U2uOiq9x pic.twitter.com/vcjw60WsNg
— Sarah Keartes (@sarahkeartes) September 7, 2017
“On first glance it looked like something from the deep sea to me,” Desai told Earth Touch News Network. “My initial thought was it might be a sea lamprey but when I got close I realized there was no way that was what it was, particularly based on the mouth.”
“We squished it around a bit, and even turned it over but couldn’t come up with any other ideas,” she said.
Okay, biology twitter, what the heck is this?? Found on a beach in Texas City, TX. #wildlifeid pic.twitter.com/9IUuuL65qh
— Preeti Desai? (@preetalina) September 6, 2017
“This is the kind of thing that’s perfect for Twitter – there are so many scientists and researchers on the platform and they’re very willing to jump in and figure out things like this,” she said.
Biologists who responded believe that it’s a type of eel—but they weren’t exactly sure what kind.
There is a possibility that the animal is a fangtooth snake-eel, known as the tusky eel, which resides in the Gulf of Mexico.