What exactly is this thing ? Image Credit: TikTok / Nataliia Vorobok
Marine experts have shed light on a recent viral video showing a bizarre sea creature with three tentacles.
The unusual footage was originally posted up on video-sharing social media site TikTok by user Nataliia Vorobok however the exact circumstances and location remain unclear.
The video shows the creature flapping about on a wooden decking or pier, presumably after being fished up by the young man whose voice can be heard expressing disbelief at the peculiar catch.
"What the hell ? What is that ? Mom!" he can be heard shouting. "Ma, you see this ?"
"Holy ****!" his mother replies. "What the hell is that ?"
The video quickly prompted a great deal of speculation on social media with some users likening the creature to something out of the Netflix series Stranger Things.
Now though, Marcus Williams - a marine animal expert at the Ocean Conservation Trust - has shed light on the mystery by revealing what his team believes the creature to be.
"Our marine experts here at the Ocean Conservation Trust have taken a look at the video and without seeing the animal first hand it is of course tricky to identify 100%," he told Unilad.
"However, from what we can see, it does appear to be an underdeveloped skate."
It does look like a skate without the 'wings'. Not surprising to see such malformed sea creatures considering how much toxic crap we dump in the waters. It also just happens naturally sometimes.