Another creepy fish washes up on Texas shore. This one is ‘as big as they get’

For the second time this month, the discovery of a large eel on the Texas shore has captivated the internet.

This one, an American eel discovered by Jace Tunnel of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, was “as big as they get.”

He shared video of the elusive fish as part of his beachcombing series on the Mission-Aransas Reserve page on Facebook. The video series shows Tunnel encountering exotic creatures on Mustang Island.

“This thing is massive. It’s gotta be like 4-foot long,” Tunnel said of the eel in the Jan. 23 video. “The interesting thing about these is that usually you find them a lot smaller. People use them for fishing bait and stuff like that.”

The particular eel discovered dead by Tunnel was a female, and one that could have produced up to 4 million eggs, he said.

But Tunnel said they’ve mostly been “wiped out,” living primarily in rivers and estuaries.

“A lot of people think they’re snakes,” Tunnel said in his video. “No, they’re a fish, just a real interesting fish.”

The longest American eel found in Texas is 42 inches, according to Texas Parks & Wildlife. They’re the only freshwater eel species in North America, and they travel to the ocean to spawn, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services said.

Earlier this month, Suzanne Choate Arceneaux encountered a similar-looking snapper eel along the shore of Galveston Bay. She shared pictures of the fish with its mouth wide open exposing its sharp teeth.

“That’s a fish straight outta the depths from hell,” one commenter said.

This story was originally published January 26, 2023 at 10:45 AM with the headline "Another creepy fish washes up on Texas shore. This one is ‘as big as they get’."