What on earth is this terrifying eyeless sea creature?

Whatever it is, it randomly washed up on a beach in Texas City, Texas as a result of Hurricane Harvey.

It has baffled experts ever since Preeti Desai, who works for the National Audubon Society, asked ‘biology Twitter’ what the animal was when she posted photos online.

The lump is believed to have been some kind of eel – but with its teeth showing in one image, it has the appearance of a deep sea creature that should have no business being near the surface.

Ms Desai said: ‘We were on a beach in Texas City and saw this thing from afar so I got closer to figure out what it was.

‘It was so unexpected to see it there on the beach. On first glance it looked like something from the deep sea to me.
‘My initial thought was it might be a sea lamprey but when I got close I realized there was no way that was what it was, particularly based on the mouth.

‘We squished it around a bit, and even turned it over but couldn’t come up with any other ideas.’

Twitter soon weighed in, with a few guesses being thrown around.