A group of Australian adventurers have shared the terrifying moment they came across a “creepy” fish during a camping trip on a remote island.
Cam Wild and his friends discovered the blackjawfish while exploring the mudflats at night in the Pilbara region of the north-west of the state of Western Australia.
“That’s crazy. That’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he can be heard saying in footage of the discovery shared on social media.
In the video, a man extends the tip of a rifle toward the jawfish “not to hurt it, just to see if it snaps” before the animal reacts.
The jawfish bites the tip of the rifle before disappearing under the water.
The group backed away in fear and one woman was heard saying that the terrifying fish “would haunt me in my sleep tonight.”
“Can we keep looking to see if we can find a spare pair of underwear?” Wild said.
“Imagine almost stepping on this bad boy while walking through the mudflats of a remote island at night!” she later captioned the video on TikTok.
Australians have been left horrified by this black jawfish spotted on a remote island in Western Australia.
Australians were quick to share their thoughts on the terrifying encounter.
“My soul left my body for a minute,” one person commented.
“It made me jump,” wrote another.
“Why does everyone who wants to hurt me live in Australia?” asked a third.
A quarter agreed: “Another reason to stay away from Australia.”
Marine expert Professor Culum Brown said the species were not known to harm humans unless provoked.
“I doubt they pose any real risk to people unless you’re dumb enough to stick your fingers into their burrow,” he said. Yahoo News.
Blackjawfish, which have forward-facing eyes and store their eggs in their mouths, can be found in tropical waters and coral reefs.
Jawfish (pictured) have forward-facing eyes and store their eggs in their large mouths.
