- A bizarre-looking sea creature washes up on a lake in Australia
- The creature looks like a cross between a crocodile and a dolphin
- A fish collector for the Australian Museum said it is a pike eel
A resident of Caves Beach in Australia was dumbfounded after he came upon a bizarre-looking sea creature that looks like a cross between a crocodile and a dolphin on the banks of a lake.
A Newcastle Herald article written by Tim Connell said a certain Robert Tyndall, along with some confused locals, found the massive creature at the banks of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales in Australia.
Tyndall’s photo of the sea creature was shared by Ethan Tipper on Facebook to see if anyone can identify it.
The odd “sea monster” has a body that resembles that of a crocodile, a head shaped like a dolphin’s and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
Some online commenters said the creature’s image may have been photoshopped, while others said it could be a large hairtail cutlass fish.
However, an expert, suspects it is a pike eel, a type of fish native to deep waters on Australia’s east coast.
Australian Museum fish collector Mark McGrouhter said pike eels could grow to 1.8 meters in length, has an elongated body, a long slender jaws and large teeth.
He told Daily Mail that “This is the first time I have ever seen one of them in the flesh. I suspect it was caught and discarded by fisherman who got more than they bargained for when they tried to reel it in.”
Tyndall, who was amused by speculation that the image was photoshopped because he does not know anything about computers, said he knew it was some kind of an eel.
Marine biologist Julian Pepperrell said the pike eel was “probably relatively old.” It could have died from a net entanglement, been hit by a boat or died of old age, he said.
Pike eels are not poisonous to eat and are considered a delicacy in some parts of South East Asia.
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