What is that? Nightmare creature discovered on the beach

Dana Point (California/USA) - What is that? A particularly strange creature has washed up on a beach in California.

The nightmare fish has a ripped open mouth, pointed teeth and striking gray skin.

Reddit user ZJM made the creepy discovery on the beach at Dana Point in the L.A. area and immediately shared pictures of the bizarre creature on the platform. "It gives me nightmares," the user wrote below. "Do you know what this is?"

The find was widely discussed on Reddit. While some users were reminded of an "alien" or a "dinosaur", others had a very specific suspicion.

"It's a moray eel," many users noted in the comments column.

In the meantime, the media have also become aware of the creepy fish. In an interview with the news site SFGate, Tim Daly from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife categorizes the find.

He also believes the fish to be a moray eel, an eel-like predatory fish that is widespread off the coast of California. However, this specimen "looks a little bleached because it is dead", the expert notes.

Moray eels are widespread in tropical waters. The marine predators, which can be up to four meters long, like to hide in caves and coral reefs, where they prey on anything smaller and slower than themselves. More than 200 species are known worldwide.

Although these fascinating animals are considered to be extremely shy and only snap when they feel threatened, there are frequent biting incidents with divers, which are extremely painful but usually have a mild outcome.

In Roman times, moray eels were considered a delicacy and were even kept as pets by some wealthy people.