From an eyeless monster to a living fossil,
here are 10 of the most bizarre creatures ever caught!! 10. Giant Talking Catfish Native to the Amazon River Basin, the Giant
Talking Catfish (Megalodoras uranoscopus), also called the Giant Raphael Catfish, is
typically found in tributaries, creeks, swamps. Its unique black-and-yellow color pattern
makes it stand out a lot compared to other types of catfish and almost doesn’t even
look real!! It’s maybe not the most beautiful fish species
on Earth but it’s pretty bizarre!! Why are they called the talking catfish you
ask? Good question! It’s because they can produce sounds by
locking their spiny pectoral fins into their sockets, grinding them against the inner portion
of the socket and resonating their swim bladder using a muscle in the back of their skull
to produce a deep clicking sound. Pretty cool huh? Giant talking catfish are slow-growing, typically
reaching up to two feet (60 cm) long and weighing as much as 10 pounds (4.6 kg) by adulthood. The largest known recorded specimens, found
in the Amazon, Essequibo, and Tocantins river systems, were as much as 28 inches (71 cm)
long. Their coloring makes them very popular in
the aquarium trade and will eat pretty much everything. Despite their size, giant talking catfish
can be described as gentle giants. They tend to ignore other fish and go about
their business, feeding mainly on crustaceans. These bottom-dwellers are also heavily armored,
which protects them from aggressive species. So if you are in the Amazon and catch this
yellow and black beast, don’t worry, it’s actually a catfish! There are much scarier things to look out
for!! 9. Alien Sea Beast While fishing in Krabi province in southern
Thailand late last year, 41-year-old Desha Srichai captured a creepy creature with 20
long jet-black legs, causing him to throw his net in horror. At first glance, he thought the specimen was
a twig, but when he saw it moving, he panicked. Having never seen anything like it before,
Desha told the press that he was so disgusted, he considered burning the alien-like creature,
but he took his phone out and filmed it instead in hopes of receiving help identifying it. Geez, calm down right?? Why would you just see something and burn
it?? What the heck! After the initial shock wore off, Desha rethought
his initial urge to kill the strange lifeform and used a stick to push it back into the
river from a safe distance. His friends told him that it was most likely
a black feather star (Colobometra perspinosa), a bottom-dwelling marine species that can
regrow severed tentacles much like its relatives from the crinoid group of animals that includes
sea stars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. Unlike many of its relatives, the black feather
star does not have a stalk connecting it to the seafloor. And despite its terrifying appearance, it’s
rather harmless to humans, feeding mostly on plankton. All of those weird appendages and feathers
help it catch its food!! But this apparently didn’t matter to Desha,
who said that he hopes he never catches one again. 8. Long-Nosed Chimaera Garry Goodyear, a Newfoundland and Labrador-based
fisherman, was utterly shocked last year when his crew caught a specimen he didn’t recognize
while fishing for turbot in Bonavista Bay. Hauled up in the boat’s trawler net from
over 2,600 feet (800 meters) below the water’s surface, the nearly 3.3-foot-long (1 meter)
dead fish had a rubber-like nose and wing-like appendages, according to Goodyear, who spoke
with CBC about the strangest catch of his career. The perplexed angler posted photos of the
creature on Facebook in hopes that someone could identify it and ultimately determined
that it was likely a long-nosed chimaera. Related to sharks, rays, and skates, there
are eight known species of chimaera. These ancient cartilaginous deep-dwelling
fish are typically found between 656 and 3,280 feet (200-1,000 meters) underwater, and are
rarely seen or caught by humans. Long-nosed chimaeras have a long, pointy snout
and neon green eyes, giving them a monstrous appearance, according to Carolyn Miri, a marine
biologist with the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Goodyear was also glad nothing bad happened
to him or his crew while they handled the fish. Unaware that the species has a venomous spine,
nobody thought twice about touching it with their bare hands. Miri explained that the fish Goodyear accidentally
captured likely died while being hauled to the surface due to pressure changes in the
water and agreed that Goodyear and his crew were lucky the fish was dead, because it could
have caused serious injury by flailing around had it been alive. 7. Real-Life Sea Monster After spending 45 minutes wrestling with his
fishing line earlier this year, fisherman Nate Iszac reeled in what social media users
described as a “real-life sea monster” while fishing in the Bering Sea off Alaska’s
Akutan Island. With a gaping mouth and a gigantic jaw equipped
with razor-sharp teeth, the enormous prehistoric-looking creature indeed looked like something from
someone’s worst nightmare, or perhaps even another planet. While the sight of the creepy specimen was
a first for many, Iszac told LADBible that he had seen it before. Knowing from past experience that they bite
very hard, he and his crew were extremely cautious in their handling of it. Photos he posted on social media show that
the demonic-looking fish measured around half his height. Identified as a wolf eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus),
the species can actually grow much larger than the one Iszac caught, reaching up to
seven feet (2.1 meters) long and weighing as much as 41 pounds (18.4 kg). These homely creatures lurk throughout the
North Pacific, where they use their powerful jaws to crush prey and mate for life in monogamous
pairs. Iszac releases everything he catches back
into the water, and the “real-life” sea monster was no exception. Do you enjoy going fishing?? Have you ever found a strange animal in the
water?? Let me know in the comments below! And wanted to give a big shout out to Greyson
N and Brandon Gordon! Thanks so much for spending time with us and
for supporting this channel! If you are new here, be sure to subscribe
and join us because, why not?? 6. Fish With Human Teeth While fishing off the Melbourne, Florida coast
earlier this year, fisherman Paul Lore caught a strange-looking specimen bearing a zebra-like
design and equipped with eerily humanoid teeth arranged in rows of two or three. The 33-year-old angler described the creature’s
body as “like a snapper-type fish -- very compact but meaty.” He also mentioned that it had a “very strong
bite power -- not enough to take a finger but enough to make you never go near the teeth
again.” Despite its unusual appearance, this fish
is not rare. Known as a sheepshead fish (Archosargus probatocephalus),
it’s often found off the Gulf and Atlantic coasts in the U.S. but is common throughout
North America, including as far north as Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The species inspired the name of the Sheepshead
Bay neighborhood in Brooklyn, where it once populated the waters off the eastern coast
of Coney Island. The sheepshead fish feeds mainly on crustaceans,
using its teeth to crush barnacles, clam shells, and crab shells. Lore explained that its gills act like a filter,
expelling shell fragments that the creature consumes. He added that the species’ diet gives its
meat a crab-like taste, earning it the nickname the “poor man’s crab” in his area. The sheepshead fish grows to around 30 inches
(76 cm) long, but even smaller specimens are incredibly strong. According to Lore, as soon as one gets hooked
on a fishing line, they swim sideways with a lot of force, making them difficult to reel
in. 5. Lobster-Shrimp Hybrid? During what was meant to be an ordinary fishing
trip in Fort Pierce, Florida, fisherman Stever Bargeron looked on in shock and amusement
as a nearby couple reeled in what he described as an “alien creature” that looked like
an oversized cross between a lobster and a shrimp. He snapped a few photos of the flailing animal
before the couple, who had no interest in keeping the creature, tossed it back into
the water. Bargeron passed the pictures on to the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which posted the images on its Facebook
page. Ray Caldwell, a professor of integrative biology
at the University of California, Berkeley, instantly identified the critter as a mantis
shrimp. Also known as a stomatopod, the creature is
actually rather common in Floridian waters. People just don’t see them very often because
they rarely emerge from their burrows on the seafloor, making the catch unique in its own
right. Speaking with Live Science, Caldwell explained
that the species is equipped with prominent claws that it uses to stab or mash its prey,
depending on the species. Mantis shrimp can live for up to 30 years
and grow up to a foot (30.5 cm) long. Bargeron had claimed that the specimen he
witnessed the capture of was around 18 inches (45.7 cm) long, but admitted that he did not
measure it. Caldwell said that this was unlikely, but
that it was entirely possible that the creature looked much bigger in the pictures or because
its claws were extended. 4. Mutant Shark After accidentally capturing a pregnant female
shark in their trawler net off the Indonesian coast earlier this year, fisherman Abdullah
Nuren and his brother cut her open and received the shock of a lifetime. Two of the unborn pups appeared normal, but
the third had eerily human-like facial features and large, round, cartoon-ish eyes. The deformed shark pup likely had a congenital
defect called Cyclopia, according to marine conservation biologist Dr. David Shiffman,
who cautioned against Googling the condition while eating. He explained in a Twitter post that Cyclopia
occurs when both of a creature’s eyes are fused to one orbit. Caught near the East Nusa Tenggara province,
the mutant shark attracted a throng of curious visitors including Nuren’s neighbors, who
reportedly offered to buy the specimen from him. Instead, he kept it for himself with plans
to preserve it as a good luck charm. 3. Eyeless Monster Australia has no shortage of bizarre wildlife,
but every now and then, a species stands out as even stranger than the rest. This was certainly the case in early 2019,
when a group of anglers witnessed the capture of a nightmarish eyeless specimen with razor-sharp
teeth in the secluded Mary River near Kakadu National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory. Tee Hokin, who reeled in the freaky fish,
described the six-inch-long (15 cm) creature as “purpley-brown with a really weird head”
in an interview with ABC Australia, adding that it reminded her of the 1979 horror movie
Alien, during which a hideous monstrosity comes out of actress Sigourney Weaver’s
stomach. Adding to the strangeness of the situation,
the fish reportedly didn’t move at all while being handled. As it turned out, the creature was not an
alien, but a member of a group called Eelgobies or Wormgobies. Speaking with the Daily Mail, fish identification
expert Morgan Grant explained that there are several species present in Australia’s brackish
and freshwater estuaries, and that they have poorly developed eyes that are often covered
in skin because eyesight is essentially useless in the murky waters. Thisn forces the marine animals to rely primarily
on their sense of touch to catch prey. He added that the fish have extremely sharp
and powerful teeth to make up for what they lack in eyesight. 2. Translucent Shrimp-Like Blob While fishing with his two sons over 40 miles
(64 km) off the Karikari Peninsula of New Zealand’s North Island in 2014, Stewart
Fraser spotted a translucent shrimp-like creature floating near the water’s surface. Curious as to what it was, he grabbed hold
of it and posed for a few pictures to show his fisherman friends. The specimen was completely see-through, minus
a small orange blob inside its body. Fraser described it as scaly but firm and
jelly-like to the touch. Nobody he knew was able to identify it, leaving
everyone baffled. MailOnline got to the bottom of the mystery
with the help of staff members at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, U.K., who identified
the creature as a Salpa maggiore. Salps somewhat resemble jellyfish, but are
more closely related to vertebrates, according to National Marine Aquarium Director Paul
Cox. They have gills and a heart, and their bodies
are encased in a sac-like structure with two openings -- one on each end -- that water
pumps through, propelling the creatures through the water. Meanwhile, filters passively collect nutrients
from algae and phytoplankton. Little is known about these bizarre animals,
which are found mainly throughout the Southern Ocean, travel in large chains, and grow up
to 10 inches (25.4 cm) long. Salps are unique because they function individually
and as part of a larger organism. They have no defense against predators, proving
that power doesn’t always come in numbers, and their clear appearance serves as a form
of camouflage that helps them to avoid becoming another animal’s next meal. 1. Living Fossil Back in 2007, Indonesian fisherman Yustinus
Lahama and his son caught an ancient-looking fish in the waters off North Sulawesi. They took the 4.3-foot-long (1.3 meters),
112-pound (51 kg) creature home and kept it there until a neighbor told them that it was
a rare species, prompting the pair to return it to the sea. Unfortunately, the fish died after spending
17 hours in a quarantine pool. It was identified as a coelacanth, a prehistoric
species that first appeared on the fossil record around 350 million years ago and that
scientists long believed went extinct along with the dinosaurs around 65 million years
ago. This belief was turned on its head in 1938,
when a living specimen was discovered off the eastern coast of South Africa. Today, there are only two known coelacanth
species, and both can live for 60 years or more. They can grow more than 6.6 feet (2 meters)
long and weigh around 200 pounds (90 kg). The fish that Lahama caught was only the second
coelacanth to be captured in Asia. The first was caught in 1998, also off the
North Sulawesi coast. Scientists were perplexed by this, and by
the fact that Lahama’s catch survived for 17 hours, since it’s commonly understood
that coelacanths can only survive for up to two hours outside their habitat. But it’s not surprising that there’s a
lot we don’t know about these fish, considering the fact that their existence was unknown
to us until relatively recently.
Interesting that it's all about water creatures. It almost seems as if they appear "most bizarre" to us just because they're the least familiar. That looks like some sort of confirmation bias.
What do you think?