That’s a moray?
Online viewers were flabbergasted over a ghastly-looking sea creature washed up on a beach in California, as depicted in a Reddit post making waves online.
“It’s giving me nightmares,” read the post describing the nautical night terror, which washed ashore near Laguna Niguel, SF Gate reported.
The accompanying photo showed a slender, pallid-looking critter with rows of undulating teeth, evoking an artist’s depiction of a sea serpent from an old-timey marine map.
Redditors had many guesses on the identity of the sea monster with some comparing it to a plesiosaur (the same species as the mythical Loch Ness monster) while one user joked it was an “otter with alopecia.”
As it turned out, the ferocious-looking flotsam is actually the corpse of a moray eel, a slimy ocean predator that resides in tropical and subtropical seas, where it hides in rocks and crevices in reefs.
There are reportedly over 200 species of the toothy hunter, the largest of which can grow to nearly 12 feet long.
Morays are generally not harmful to humans, instead preferring to feast on fish, but they can bite people when disturbed.
While the eels come in a kaleidoscopic array of colors, this specimen looked “little bleached out from being dead,” according to Tim Daly, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson.
The animal’s name, perhaps unsurprisingly, prompted comment section comedians to post parodies of the Dean Martin classic song “That’s Amore.”
“If the moon hits it’s eyes like a big pizza pie that’s a moray,” quipped one wit.
Another wrote, “When the jaws open wide, and there’s more jaws inside, that’s a moray.”
“If it washes up dead with sharp teeth in its head, that’s a moray,” joked a third.
