Looking like a cross between Tremors’ Graboids and the thing that bursts out of John Hurt’s chest in Alien, this prehistoric water beast has been discovered in an English river.
The eel-like fish, known as a lamprey and often described as a “living fossil”, due to its existence dating back several hundreds of millions of years - before even dinosaurs existed - is one of the rarest fish in Britain.
Growing up to a metre in length, the lamprey anchors itself on to other fish using its circle of razor sharp teeth and feeds on their blood.
Essentially making it a goddamn water vampire from hell.
At one point in time the vampire-fish-worms were a familiar sight in British waterways but this recent discovery is the first time that the fish has been spotted since the 1800s.
The creatures disappeared shortly after the Industrial Revolution, which resulted in the waters being too polluted for them to survive. The new sightings are a good sign that the current water quality in Britain has improved dramatically since then.
A good sign for us, even if the things do look absolutely terrifying.
[Via: Environment Agency]
