A LARGE SEA creature with fangs that washed up on a Texas beach in the wake of Hurricane Harvey has been identified as a fangtooth snake-eel.
Twitter user Preeti Desai shared the images of the fish on the beach in Texas City, and sought help in identifying it.
She asked: “Okay, biology Twitter, what the heck is this?”
It was eel specialist Dr Kenneth Tighe who solved the mystery, identifying it as the fangtooth snake-eel. A friend had seen her post and put her in touch with Dr Tighe.
It is believed that Hurricane Harvey – with its incredibly strong winds – could have brought the eel that far from its usual waters in the western Atlantic ocean.
Desai told the BBC: “It was completely unexpected, it’s not something that you’d typically see on a beach.
I thought it could be something from the deep sea that might have washed on to shore. My main reaction was curiosity, to figure out what the heck it was.
“I follow a lot scientists and researchers,” she said. “There’s such a great community of these folks that are very helpful, especially when it comes to answering questions about the world or identifying animals and plants.”
She said left the eel on the beach to “let nature take its course”.
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