They caught the weird and terrifying “vampire fish” in a California river

This fish lacks scales and gills. Instead, the animal has seven holes on either side of its head that it uses for breathing, an attribute that visually sets it apart from other animals of similar appearance. He doesn’t have a complete skeleton, but rather cartilage that runs through his entire body. (Video: American River Lost & Found)

A strange and at the same time unusual and terrifying fish, nicknamed “Vampire fish”, recently reappeared in the American river, near the city of Sacramento, in California, United States.

The Pacific lamprey, as this animal is known, it has a cylindrical, gelatinous body, and a circular mouth shaped like a toothed sucker, which it uses to stick to its prey. The fish was caught this week by Karl Bly, who has been exploring the region for 40 years.

This fish lack of scales and gills. Instead, the animal has seven holes on either side of its head that are used for breathing, an attribute that visually differentiates it from other animals of similar appearance. He does not have a complete skeletonInstead, he has cartilage running through his entire body.

Bly published this Wednesday the images on the account of Facebook of American River Lost & Found, where he commented that it was on the one hand “the second lamprey of the season”, and on the other, “the second he saw in 30 years“.

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“It looks like a sea creature from the depths. I captured sea lions, river otters, crabs and a lot of crazy things ”, he expressed in a dialogue with CBS.

As explained Peter Tira, spokesperson for the State Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, the vampire fish is a species native to California and the American River, which is born in freshwater, migrates to the ocean and then returns to the river for have babies, which can be up to 100 thousand at a time,

“In the ocean he stick to a dolphin, a shark or a whale, and they feed on that larger host fish to take advantage of the nutrients, ”he added, noting that they do not harm humans.

The agency noted that the Pacific lampreys they disappeared for a while from the river and now reappear, but There is no data which indicate the reason.

At Spain the vampire fish is famous in the gastronomy, and can also be found in various supermarkets.