As if you needed another reason not to go to New Jersey, check out this picture of a creature recently captured by Reddit user jlitch in the Raritan River of central New Jersey.
Identified as a monstrous sea lamprey, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission reports that sea lamprey are like aquatic vampires that “feed on body fluids, often scarring and killing host fish.”
Huffington Post further reports:
Sea lampreys are a native to the Atlantic Ocean and are found along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard and the coast of Europe, as well as in the Great Lakes, where it is considered an invasive species.
Feeling squeamish? Check out the images of other real life modern sea monstrosities below.
Frilled Shark
Looking like a cross between a shark and an eel, the frilled shark twists and curves its body to swim. Known for its existence since the Late Cretaceous, it is sparsely distributed throughout all the world’s oceans.
Giant Isopod
Abundant in all deep waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, they are related to wood louse and pill bugs…although they come in a much more frightening size.
Anglerfish
Made famous in Finding Nemo, anglerfish get their name by “fishing” for prey with the long filament growing from their head. They also have the ability to distend their jaws and stomach like a python to swallow prey much larger than themselves.
Goblin Shark
Goblin sharks hunt by using that great, big, electro-sensitive schnoz to sense prey in the dark waters around them. Found in the trenches off of Japan, they are rare but not particularly threatened by human activity.
Giant Squid
Probably the most famous of all sea monsters, it was first captured on camera and verified real in 2004. A product of deep-sea gigantism , it is dwarfed in size only by its “big brother”, the colossal squid.
Blue Dragon
Maybe the most unknown “sea beast”, the blue dragon is a gastropod (slug) that has a much larger bite than its 3 cm size. Notorious for feasting on poisonous anomalies like the Portuguese man o’ war, it sure is pretty to look at.
Neon Flying Squid
Identified by a long silvery stripe in the middle of their body, they don’t so much “fly” as propel themselves through the air by expelling streams of water from their body.