Creepy Little Fanged Fish Discovered in Australia

Scientists poking around extinct volcanoes off the coast of Australia discovered a tiny new species of fish that might just worm its way into your nightmares. The scaleless blackfish may be shorter than a finger, but the inky-smooth fanged creature looks like an outtake from a monster movie. (Well, a monster movie set in a diorama.)

Researchers from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, were looking for the nursing grounds of larval lobsters using a remote ocean explorer when they happened upon four previously-unknown extinct volcanoes. Like the shark-filled volcano Kavachi, these volcanoes are teeming with life—primarily baby fish. The volcanoes, it seems, have become nursing grounds for larval fish swept out to sea from commercial fisheries along the eastern coast of Australia. 

The creepily smooth scaleless blackfish might be an adult, or it might be a larva on its way to becoming a giant fanged monster. Either way, it’s a weirdo.

[h/t: Gizmodo]

All images courtesy CISRO.