"Has a suction cup with sharp teeth": a man stumbled upon a shocking find on the bank of the river

26-year-old Will Miles, walking along the beach near Exmouth Wharf in Devon, came across a strange creature that looked like "a huge leech with a suction cup full of sharp, inward-pointing teeth."

This monster turned out to be the sea lamprey, a rare species known for sucking the blood of its prey. Once widespread in the UK, lampreys are now rare due to water pollution and artificial barriers on the rivers where they breed, writes dailymail.co.uk.

The specimen found reached 80 cm - slightly less than the height of an average two-year-old child.

A photo of the lamprey, posted by Miles on Facebook, sparked a lively discussion. Some users have compared the creature to a sandworm from the sci-fi novel Dune.

Marine biologist Jarko Havermans explained that lampreys live on the bottom for five years, filtering detritus. They then transform into adults, migrate to the sea, and parasitize larger fish and whales, often killing their prey. To breed, lampreys migrate back to rivers.Read also:  "There was nothing to breathe, the screen was thick": many Transcarpathians were scared on the eve of the shocking spectacle

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