Nature & Environment

Alien Sea Monster Discovered in New Jersey

Staff Reporter
First Posted: Feb 27, 2013 12:37 PM EST

An eerie-looking sea monster was found in the waters of northern New Jersey.

The photo of the eel-like creature was taken by Dough Culter who was fishing in the Raritan River two years ago. But the picture was posted last week on Reddit and has received a million views till now.

According to a report by New York Daily News, a New Jersey man was fishing when he spotted an enormous eel-like fish. With the help of a bow and arrow, he easily managed to get a hand on the monster, and snagged the creature with a shot right through its middle.

According to scientists at the Outdoor magazine, the bloody creature was mostly a sea lamprey and it is typically found in the northern Atlantic region. With the help of its teeth it embeds itself on the back of a prey and injects digestive fluids on the back of the prey that eventually kills the prey. It not only survives in fresh water but salt waters as well.

A spokesman for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation tells Outdoor magazine: "The photo doesn't allow counting of gill openings (seven per side for sea lampreys), but based on size alone, this does appear to be a sea lamprey," reports The Huffington Post.

According to a report by Sciencerecorder, ever since lampreys have invaded the Great lakes, they have caused an enormous amount of destruction. As a parasite, a single lamprey is capable of killing nearly 40 or more pounds of fish. 

See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone

More on SCIENCEwr