Blood-sucking ‘alien’ sea creature with no legs ‘chased man from river on land’

A man claims to have been attacked by a blood-sucking "alien" sea creature which is known to use its tongue to drill through its prey.

The sea lamprey might just be one of the most terrifying beasts to dwell under water as one man claims to have come under attack by the creature on land.

Summer marks spawning season for the blood-sucking monsters, which use their freakish tongue to burrow into the body of prey so it can liquify its tissues and feed at will.

Once a sea lamprey opens its powerful suction cup of a mouth filled with multiple circular rows of horn-shaped teeth, is clear to see.

"The power of that suction cup is also what makes the sea lamprey so lethal in the Great Lakes," expert Marc Gaden said.

Despite having no legs and often being confused as an eel, a lamprey allegedly attacked a man in a river and continued to chase him on land.

A man named John Lewis commented on a video shared by CBC: "I spent much of my childhood fishing and saw more than my share of Sea Lamprey.

"Even though this article claims they do not travel across land, I absolutely did have one chase me about 1-2 feet out of the water and onto a shore… I was wadding in the water when it took after me. Very ugly creatures!"

Someone else said: "Creepy. They seem more alien than fish. If they're feeding off others blood wouldn't that make these things super high in iron? Good eatin'!"

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The communications director for the US and Canadian Great Lakes Fishery Commission says that for as long as sea lampreys are concentrating on spawning, their digestive systems shut down.

The commission said: "They couldn't feed if they wanted to. They have only one thing in mind once they reach that spawning phase, and that's to find a mate and to spawn successfully."

Once a young sea lamprey grows to about 120 millimetres in length, they stop feeding and experience metamorphosis as they spend two months transforming into their adult bodies.

Afterwards even the way they breathe is different, allowing them to breathe while completely latched onto a host such as a fish to feed on its blood.

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When it is eventually their turn to spawn, lampreys will do so before both males and females die.

Gaden explained: "They exert all of their energy in that spawning phase, and they die after spawning."

Comments on the report ranged from the horrified to suggesting chefs make sea lampreys their new speciality dish.

One person said: "It escaped from my nightmares and was unleashed into the world,"

Another wrote: "It looks like a sandworm that lives on the desert planet Arrakis from the movie Dune."

"Sounds like something out of a sci-fi alien movie," a third squealed.

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