Rare “living fossil” shark that looks like it’s trying to escape from its own face is a great reminder for us to stay out of the water.

Deep and dark, the sea is a world of mystery. And with what it vomits up on Japanese beaches, we’re quite happy for it to stay that way. Japanese Twitter user @Tomochin_s14 recently took a photo of a freakish creature they found washed up on a beach in Ose, Shizuoka Prefecture, to the south of Mount Fuji, getting rather closer than we would have dared in the process.

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/934582638446182400

The creepy looking critter, and possessor of a face even its own mother might find hard to love, may look like an aberrant mutation or like something from the film Alien, but it’s actually a rare species of shark known as a Goblin Shark, which normally lives thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface. They are only ever rarely seen, leaving their population numbers a mystery. Sightings are so infrequent that other more knowledgeable social media users told @Tomochin_s14 that if they told an aquarium about the find they’d get an immediate reply. One commenter, maybe taking the Japanese’s love of seafood too far, jokingly suggested that rather than informing the aquarium they should be carting it over to a fishmonger.

▼ A Goblin Shark in its natural habitat, or more like a kaiju monster based on its terrifying form, which is threatening to our bladder integrity.

Fortunately for us, Goblin sharks don’t often come all the way up to the surface, preferring to hide in the depths, scaring the hell out of each other. The few living specimens that have been caught tend to die within weeks. The cause of death being mirror or reflection-related has yet to be conclusively confirmed. For Goblin sharks at least, it’s better down where it’s wetter, take it from them.

▼ While @Tomochin_s14’s photo might have us a bit green at the gills, it turns out that’s one on a good day. You wouldn’t want to see him when he’s angry…

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/934635830450184192

▼ And if you thought you were ever going to sleep again…

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/935126824303992832

As much as we love all of the weird and the wonderful that makes up Japan, we’d also rather like to forget about the nightmare-inducing creepy-crawlies and horrifying beasties that live alongside us, forever lurking. Fortunately our stomachs are made of stronger stuff, so after a shaky few minutes our seafood cravings have kicked back in.

Source: Twitter/@Tomochin_s14 via jin155
Featured image: Twitter/@Tomochin_s14 (edited by SoraNews24)