Alien-like creature pulled from New Jersey area an Internet sensation
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The photo, containing no information other than the New Jersey reference, has gone viral on Reddit, garnering nearly 400,000 views in the first six hours after being posted on Friday.

Apparently, the creature, whose days of terrorizing other creatures are over thanks to the sharp point of a spear, is a very large sea lamprey.

Sea lampreys only measure to about three feet, so the specimen in this image must appear gigantic because of the camera angle. It also could be seriously photoshopped.

A spokeswoman for New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, when asked for a positive ID, stated via email: "The photo doesn't allow counting of gill openings (seven per side for sea lamprey), but based on size alone, this does appear to be a sea lamprey."