Last week in Nags Head, North Carolina a monstrous like fish washed onto the shoreline just south of Jennette’s Pier. Believed to be a long-nosed Lancetfish – it is built like an eel – its head connected to a long tail with a fin under its chin.
Image via Facebook from JennettesPier
These creatures can grow to about 6.6 feet long with large sharp teeth. It is known to feed on small fish, crustaceans and crabs. They are also believed to be cannibalistic by nature and a large portion of their diet consists of other Lancetfish according to GrindTV. Sharks and large tuna are the natural predators of the Lancetfish population.
This fish washed onto shore once and visitors to Jennette’s Pier took pictures of the creature before placing back in the water. Eventually washing onto shore a second time experts believed the fish must have been ill.
The Lancetfish belongs to the Alepisauridae family – Greek for scaleless lizard. Typically this species are known to be deep water fish which only supports the idea that this Lancetfish had something wrong with it. They are also known to inhabit all non-polar oceans via wisTV. Still little is known about their biology.