{"id":3323,"date":"2018-10-22T18:07:37","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T16:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/?p=3323"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:28:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:28:20","slug":"9-scary-fish-to-haunt-your-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/9-scary-fish-to-haunt-your-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Scary Fish to Haunt Your Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 9<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p>The world is full of scary fish, from the infamous Piranhas of South America to Hollywood&rsquo;s go-to killers: Sharks. There&rsquo;s something about being in the water that fills people with fear. And looking at some of the things that live in it, we&rsquo;re not surprised.<\/p><p>These spooky species take things to a whole new level of terror. Some are fearsome predators which devour anything in their path. Others are just so strange they were born to fill your nightmares. Each fish has its own signature something that sets it apart as one of the planet&rsquo;s scariest sea creatures.<\/p><script src=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.com\/player.js\" async><\/script><script src=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.com\/embed\/lcmh8bwvwy.js\" async type=\"module\"><\/script><style>wistia-player[media-id='lcmh8bwvwy']:not(:defined) { background: center \/ contain no-repeat url('https:\/\/fast.wistia.com\/embed\/medias\/lcmh8bwvwy\/swatch'); display: block; filter: blur(5px); padding-top:56.25%; }<\/style><wistia-player media-id=\"lcmh8bwvwy\" aspect=\"1.7777777777777777\"><div class=\"wistia_preload_transcript_outer_wrapper\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 100%; display:flex; justify-content:center; align-items: center; margin-top:-56.25%;\"><div class=\"wistia_preload_transcript_inner_wrapper\" style=\" overflow: auto;\"><p class=\"wistia_preload_transcript_text\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" style=\"text-align: justify; font-size: 5px !important;\">Our planet is made up of about 71% water, much of which is inhabited by some strange-looking creatures. In this video, we present you with 9 scary fish that will haunt your dreams! If you want to watch more interesting fish videos like this, be sure to like and subscribe below.\r\n\r\nNumber nine, Sheepshead.\r\n\r\nThey say that the scariest fish are the ones you never notice. It sits there in plain view, and then one day, it opens its mouth, and BAM! It has human teeth? That&rsquo;s right, what otherwise looks like a normal fish has some strange-looking chompers.\r\n\r\nThis is because Sheepshead hunt shellfish, using their human-like teeth to crush their prey&rsquo;s armor.\r\n\r\nNumber eight, Anglerfish. Some of you may recognize this scary fish from Finding Nemo. However, this creature&rsquo;s claim to fame started much earlier than the Pixar classic.\r\n\r\nFossil records show that this monster has been around for over 100 million years. They&rsquo;re commonly referred to as &ldquo;Sea Devils,&rdquo; because they lurk on the bottom of the seafloor, waiting for unsuspecting prey to come their way.\r\n\r\nNumber seven on our list might just be the ugliest fish in the world. Blobfish are adapted to living in extremely deep waters.\r\n\r\nSince they have no bones, the only thing holding them together is the sheer force of water. When a Blobfish reaches the surface, its body can&rsquo;t handle the lack of pressure, so it &ldquo;melts&rdquo; into the blob you see on the screen. No wonder it looks so sad!\r\n\r\nNumber six, Payara.\r\n\r\nFound in the remote reaches of the Amazon Basin, this apex predator is infamous for eating fish half its size and even bigger. They&rsquo;re related to other famous river monsters, such as Piranhas and Tigerfish, and they more than live up to their family&rsquo;s reputation.\r\n\r\nNumber five, Frilled Shark. While all Sharks strike fear into our hearts, some species go above and beyond to scare us right out of the water.\r\n\r\nWe know very little about this particular species, but what scientists have learned is enough to make us avoid them at all costs. Frilled Sharks hunt by floating silently in the water, then coiling their bodies and lunging at their prey like a snake. In other words, if this monster gets hold of you, there&rsquo;s no getting away.\r\n\r\nNumber four, Sarcastic Fringehead.\r\n\r\nAt first glance, this frumpy-faced fella looks kind of cute. However, in reality, they are highly territorial and extremely aggressive. Sarcastic Fringehead are known to attack creatures much bigger than them. Even humans are sometimes harassed by them while diving around reefs.\r\n\r\nWhen it wants to scare off an intruder, it transforms from cute to straight up menacing, with it&rsquo;s mouth splayed wide open. It kind of makes you think twice about that scuba diving trip you&rsquo;ve been planning, huh?\r\n\r\nNumber three, Northern Stargazer. These guys can be found all over the world, including along the East Coast of the United States.\r\n\r\nThey&rsquo;re venomous, predatory, and all-round unpleasant. But that&rsquo;s not even the scariest thing about them. The thing that makes the Northern Stargazer so dangerous, is the fact that they hide right in plain sight. They bury themselves in the sand with just their eyes poking out while they wait for unassuming fish to swim by.\r\n\r\nWhen something gets close enough, they POP OUT and gobble it up before it even knows what&rsquo;s coming.\r\n\r\nNumber two, Lamprey. Nothing sends chills down your spine like a parasitic fish. That&rsquo;s right, you heard that correctly.\r\n\r\nThe Lamprey is a blood-sucking fish native to the northern and western Atlantic Ocean. They prey on fish, sucking the life out of them like vampires and leaving round, oozing wounds that refuse to heal. As if that wasn&rsquo;t enough, they also secrete anticoagulants, aka blood thinners. The host doesn&rsquo;t stand a chance, and even after Lampreys move on, fish struggle to recover.\r\n\r\nAnd last but not least, number one on our list is the Goblin Shark. Literally everything about this Shark makes you want to stay the heck away! Its long nose gives it a hellish unicorn look and its pink flesh makes it look like it&rsquo;s missing its skin. But perhaps the scariest thing about Goblin Sharks is the way they hunt.\r\n\r\nThey hang silently in the water and use their noses to sense a fish&rsquo;s electrical waves. When a fish gets close enough, the Shark&rsquo;s jaws catapult out from their mouth and snap shut, slicing up and devouring their prey. I guess\r\n\r\nyou can say there are some pretty horrifying fish out there. And with so much of our oceans still unexplored, who knows what else is out there?\r\n\r\nTo find out even more about these creepy aquatic creatures, be sure to check out our full blog article by clicking on the link in the description. And now it&rsquo;s your turn to tell us about the scariest fish you&rsquo;ve ever encountered. Have you seen any of these creatures with your own two eyes? Have you caught one?\r\n\r\nLet us know in the comments below! And see you next time!<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/wistia-player><h2 id=\"9-sheepshead\">9. Sheepshead<\/h2><div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-3338 size-full\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"520\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153748\/Sheepshead-1-e1540221399258.jpeg\" alt=\"A female angler holding a Sheepshead on a boat on a sunny day, Gulf of Mexico\" class=\"wp-image-3338\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#8220;This doesn&#8217;t look so scary!&#8221; It will soon&#8230;<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>They say that the worst monster is the one you never notice. It sits there, in plain view, and one day you realize it&rsquo;s absolutely terrifying. That&rsquo;s definitely the case with <a href=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/fish\/sheepshead?utm_source=fishingbooker&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=post_content_link&amp;utm_term=3323\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sheepshead<\/a>. They&rsquo;re a popular catch in the <a href=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/destinations\/region\/us\/gulf-of-mexico?utm_source=fishingbooker&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=post_content_link&amp;utm_term=3323\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gulf of Mexico<\/a> and the West Atlantic. They&rsquo;re also a common sight in fish markets and restaurants. But this seemingly-innocent food fish hides a horrible secret.<\/p><h3 id=\"fear-factor-mutant-mouth\">Fear Factor: Mutant Mouth<\/h3><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3339\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153748\/Sheepshead-2-e1540224159305.jpg\" alt=\"Face-on view of Sheepshead with mouth open, looking at teeth\" class=\"wp-image-3339\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Most fish don&#8217;t need a dental plan. Sheepshead does.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Take a look in a Sheepshead&rsquo;s mouth, and you&rsquo;ll find row after row of bizarrely human-like teeth. This freaky smile earned them their name. &ldquo;Human teeth fish&rdquo; probably didn&rsquo;t sound scientific enough when they discovered it.<\/p><p>Is this the result of secret experiments? A voodoo curse? Toxic waste? Actually, Sheepshead are shellfish specialists who use their terrible chompers to crush their prey&rsquo;s armor. We would tell you to stay away from their bite, but let&rsquo;s be honest, you&rsquo;re not going anywhere near that mouth.<\/p><h2 id=\"8-anglerfish\">8. Anglerfish<\/h2><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3325\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"478\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153756\/Anglerfish-2-e1540224303740.jpg\" alt=\"Brown Anglerfish camouflaged on the sea floor\" class=\"wp-image-3325\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Anglerfish look pretty creepy at the best of times<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Commonly known as &ldquo;Sea Devils,&rdquo; Anglerfish are the archetypal horror of the deep. They lurk on the bottom, waiting for unsuspecting prey to come their way. Their mouths are so big they can eat fish almost as big as they are.<\/p><p>Anglerfish inhale their meals whole. If they&rsquo;re too big, they tear into them with long, pointy fangs. If you&rsquo;re a fish, you really don&rsquo;t want to get close to them. But sometimes you just won&rsquo;t be able to resist.<\/p><h3 id=\"fear-factor-death-trap\">Fear Factor: Death Trap<\/h3><div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-3324 size-full\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"507\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153757\/Anglerfish-1-e1540224525672.jpg\" alt=\"Scary Anglerfish facing camera with mouth open in the dark\" class=\"wp-image-3324\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Turn out the lights, and Anglerfish enter a new world of terror!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Anglerfish get their name from the glowing &ldquo;fishing rod&rdquo; which hangs in front of their mouths. Deep-water fish are attracted to this like moths to a flame. Remember that scary fish in Finding Nemo? That&rsquo;s an Angler. And yes, they&rsquo;re every bit as horrifying as Pixar says.<\/p><p>Fish aren&rsquo;t the only ones which fall into their trap &ndash; you may have eaten one of these monsters without even knowing. Anglerfish are often sold under a different name: Monkfish. They&rsquo;re a delicacy in seafood restaurants and fish markets worldwide. Clearly, there&rsquo;s a good reason they&rsquo;re not normally served whole!<\/p><h2 id=\"7-blobfish\">7. Blobfish<\/h2><div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-3355 size-full\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"429\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153743\/Blobfish-1-1-e1540230505343.jpg\" alt=\"Three Blobfish lying next to each other\" class=\"wp-image-3355\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Blobfish have got to be the most aptly-named creature out there. (NOAA)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Blobfish are hands down the ugliest fish in the world. In fact, they&rsquo;re the ugliest anything in the world. This ball of gloop looks so wrong, a lot of people didn&rsquo;t even think it was real when pictures first started showing up. With its large nose and sad, droopy frown, the species has a nightmarishly cartoony feel to it.<\/p><p>The Blobfish&rsquo;s sheer ugliness has made it something of a pop culture phenomenon. They&rsquo;ve featured everywhere from internet memes to episodes of the X-Files. You can even buy Blobfish plush toys if you want to snuggle up with these grotesque goo balls.<\/p><h3 id=\"fear-factor-melting-blob\">Fear Factor: Melting Blob<\/h3><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3354\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153744\/Blobfish-1-e1540230375638.jpg\" alt=\"Blobfish on a black background facing the camera\" class=\"wp-image-3354\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">There&#8217;s ugly, there&#8217;s really ugly, then there&#8217;s Blobfish (Flikr, James Joel \/ CC BY-ND 2.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Blobfish aren&rsquo;t exactly scary until you realize that they&rsquo;re not supposed to look like this. They&rsquo;re adapted to living deep underwater. They&rsquo;ve got no bones and the only thing holding them together is the force of the water. When a Blobfish reaches the surface, their bodies can&rsquo;t handle the lack of pressure. They &ldquo;melt&rdquo; into the blob of fat you normally see.<\/p><p>In fact, we don&rsquo;t even know what Blobfish are supposed to look like. We&rsquo;ve never photographed them in their natural habitat. They could be a perfectly normal fish until we bring them to the surface &#8210; no wonder they look so sad!<\/p><h2 id=\"6-payara\">6. Payara<\/h2><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3335\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"437\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153750\/Payara-3-e1540225408794.jpg\" alt=\"A large Payara fish being held by an angler on a boat\" class=\"wp-image-3335\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">People travel from far and wide to catch a Payara. We&#8217;d run the other way.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Found in the remote reaches of the Amazon Basin, the Payara is an apex predator which regularly eats fish half its size or bigger. They specialize in hunting in fast currents, but they can show up anywhere, from small streams to open lakes. Wherever they go, they&rsquo;re at the top of the food chain.<\/p><p>The Payara is a relative of famous river monsters like Piranhas and Tigerfish. Strong pedigree for a scary fish. Payara more than live up to the family&rsquo;s reputation, too. They&rsquo;re strong and very aggressive. Because of this, they&rsquo;re also a popular gamefish. They attract a fanatical following of freshwater anglers who travel from far and wide to take them on.<\/p><h3 id=\"fear-factor-vampire-fangs\">Fear Factor: Vampire Fangs<\/h3><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3334\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"479\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153750\/payara-2-e1540225606630.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up of the scary fish Payara showing long teeth\" class=\"wp-image-3334\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">You need a lot of guts and some thick gloves to pick up a Payara<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Payara are a type of Dogtooth Tetra, but they have another name that seems much more fitting: &ldquo;Vampire Fish.&rdquo; Payara have such long teeth &ndash; up to 6 inches &ndash; that they actually have to sheath them into their own heads to close their mouths. Nothing says &ldquo;vampire&rdquo; like hidden fangs.<\/p><p>The freaky thing about them is that at first glance they look a little like a Salmon. They&rsquo;re the same shape and color&nbsp;and reach the same size &ndash; around 30 pounds. Now imagine one swimming towards you, only to open its gaping mouth and show off that deadly bite.<\/p><h2 id=\"5-frilled-shark\">5. Frilled Shark<\/h2><div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-3328 size-full\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"455\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153754\/Frilled-Shark-1-e1540226426329.jpg\" alt=\"Frilled Shark in the dark\" class=\"wp-image-3328\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Frilled Shark preserved for science. Scary science&#8230; (Wikipedia, Citron \/ CC-BY-SA-3.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>You can&rsquo;t have a list of scary sea monsters without at least one Shark on it. That&rsquo;s pretty much the law. But while all Sharks strike fear into our hearts, some species go above and beyond to scare us out of the water. The Frilled Shark is a classic example of this.<\/p><p>Frilled Sharks are the last of an ancient family which date all the way back to the Jurassic. We know very little about them, but what scientists have learned is enough to make us steer well clear of them. Frilled Sharks hunt by floating silently in the water, then coiling their bodies and lashing out like a snake. And that&rsquo;s not even the worst part.<\/p><h3 id=\"fear-factor-300-teeth\">Fear Factor: 300 Teeth!<\/h3><div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-3329 size-full\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"597\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153753\/Frilled-Shark-2-e1540226610402.jpg\" alt=\"Frilled Shark open mouth, view of lower jaw with teeth\" class=\"wp-image-3329\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Frilled Shark must spend half the day brushing its teeth. (Wikipedia, Kimse \/ CC BY-SA 2.5)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Look at that mouth. Why would anything need so many teeth? Frilled Sharks have around 300 barbed, backward-facing fangs that funnel food into its mouth. Once this monster gets hold of you, there&rsquo;s no getting away.<\/p><p>Some experts think that they actually use their teeth to lure fish toward them. In the water, the Frilled Shark&rsquo;s dull grey body is almost invisible, but their bright white teeth aren&rsquo;t. Fish and Squid might be tricked into attacking the Shark&rsquo;s mouth, mistaking it for prey. By the time they realize their mistake, it&rsquo;s too late to escape.<\/p><h2 id=\"4-sarcastic-fringehead\">4. Sarcastic Fringehead<\/h2><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3336\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"477\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153749\/Sarcastic-Fringehead-1-e1540227059239.jpg\" alt=\"Sarcastic Fringehead fish looking out of a hole in a reef\" class=\"wp-image-3336\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Yes, Sarcastic Fringehead always look this grumpy.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>The Sarcastic Fringehead may look cute at first, but it&rsquo;s highly territorial and extremely aggressive. They live in small holes or hollows in reefs and spend most of their time with just their head poking out. When something gets too close, they burst out and chase it out of their turf.<\/p><p>Sarcastic Fringehead seem to have no fear. They&rsquo;re known to attack creatures much bigger than them. Even humans are sometimes harassed by them while diving around reefs. But what&rsquo;s the big deal? It&rsquo;s just a fish, right?<\/p><h3 id=\"fear-factor-giant-jaws\">Fear Factor: Giant Jaws<\/h3><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3345\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"365\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153745\/Sarcastic-fringehead-2.jpg\" alt=\"Sarcastic Fringehead fish with large, open mouth\" class=\"wp-image-3345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153745\/Sarcastic-fringehead-2.jpg 718w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153745\/Sarcastic-fringehead-2-300x153.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153745\/Sarcastic-fringehead-2-200x102.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 718px) 100vw, 718px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Say &#8220;Cheese!&#8221; (Wikipedia, Wikistudent348 \/ CC BY-SA 4.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Nope. It&rsquo;s not a fish. It&rsquo;s a full-on sea monster. When it wants to scare off an intruder, it goes through a terrifying transformation. Its mouth splays open like the <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/d921M-ACMM4?t=133\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"poison-spitting dinosaur from Jurassic Park (opens in a new tab)\">poison-spitting dinosaur from Jurassic Park<\/a>. This is where the Sarcastic Fringehead gets its awesome name.<\/p><p>The Fringehead also uses its freaky mouth when hunting, enveloping fish and crustaceans whole. People have even recorded them trying to swallow whole octopus! Add in their incredible aggression and complete lack of fear, and they become very scary indeed, especially when they burst out at you from nowhere.<\/p><h2 id=\"3-northern-stargazer\">3. Northern Stargazer<\/h2><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3340\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"487\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153747\/Stargazer-1-e1540227508256.jpg\" alt=\"Northern Stargazer fish swimming along the sea floor\" class=\"wp-image-3340\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Stargazers are fearsome hunters. They&#8217;re also pretty ugly.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Stargazers are a family of fish named for their upward-facing eyes. They live all over the world, including along the East Coast of the United States. They&rsquo;re venomous and predatory and all-round unpleasant. You wouldn&rsquo;t want one as a pet, that&rsquo;s for sure.<\/p><p>There are a lot of ugly fish out there, though. Much more dangerous ones, too. What makes this one special? If they don&rsquo;t look so bad, it&rsquo;s because you&rsquo;re seeing the whole thing. Like all great monsters, they&rsquo;re at their scariest when you only catch a glimpse of them.<\/p><h3 id=\"fear-factor-the-face-in-the-sand\">Fear Factor: The Face in the Sand!<\/h3><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3341\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"479\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153746\/Stargazer-2-e1540227698198.jpg\" alt=\"Northern Stargazer face staring out of the sand\" class=\"wp-image-3341\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Stargazers love looking at the night&#8217;s sky. And at you, as you swim.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Stargazers are ambush hunters. They bury themselves in the sand with just their eyes poking out and wait for a fish to swim their way. When something gets close, they burst out and gobble it up before it even sees them coming. Then they disappear beneath the sand again. Sure sounds like a horror movie monster.<\/p><p>Imagine that next time you&rsquo;re at the beach, and keep an eye out for a face staring up at you from the seafloor. Oh, and if you think you&rsquo;re safe in the shallows, think again. These guys live in pretty much any depth of water. They show up every year in East Coast tourist spots like <a href=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/destinations\/location\/us\/VA\/virginia-beach?utm_source=fishingbooker&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=post_content_link&amp;utm_term=3323\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Virginia Beach<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/destinations\/location\/us\/SC\/myrtle-beach?utm_source=fishingbooker&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=post_content_link&amp;utm_term=3323\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myrtle Beach<\/a>.<\/p><h2 id=\"2-lamprey\">2. Lamprey<\/h2><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3332\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"479\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153752\/Lamprey-1-e1540227758899.jpg\" alt=\"Lamprey fish on rocks underwater\" class=\"wp-image-3332\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#8220;Aw, look at it!&#8221; Just you wait, you&#8217;ll be screaming soon.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Predators are scary, sure, but nothing sends chills down your spine like a parasite. Even the word can get your hair standing on end. And Lampreys are the worst of them all. They&rsquo;re ancient, hardy, and incredibly versatile. Saltwater or freshwater, lakes or rivers, shallows or depths &#8210; they thrive in every environment. They even climb waterfalls as they head inland to mate. Nowhere&rsquo;s safe.<\/p><p>Lampreys prey on fish, sucking the life out of them like a vampire and leaving round, oozing wounds that refuse to heal. They&rsquo;ve been known to attack swimmers in the past, too. But the true horror is how they do it.<\/p><h3 id=\"fear-factor-living-drill\">Fear Factor: Living Drill<\/h3><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3333\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"479\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153751\/Lamprey-2-e1540227850932.jpg\" alt=\"A close up of Lamprey mouth underwater \" class=\"wp-image-3333\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lampreys really are the stuff of nightmares<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Lampreys have a unique way of feeding. They attach themselves to their host with a sucking mouth and a ring of teeth. Once they&rsquo;ve latched on, they bore into it with a barbed tongue and drain its blood. Picture the double-mouthed monster from &ldquo;Alien&rdquo; and you have a fair idea of how it works.<\/p><p>As if that wasn&rsquo;t enough, they also secrete anticoagulants &ndash; blood thinners. The host doesn&rsquo;t stand a chance and even after Lampreys move on, fish struggle to recover. We can&rsquo;t overstate how horrible these guys are.<\/p><h2 id=\"1-goblin-shark\">1. Goblin Shark<\/h2><div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-3346\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153745\/Goblin-Shark-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Pink Goblin Shark lying on a wooden floor\" class=\"wp-image-3346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153745\/Goblin-Shark-1-1.jpg 718w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153745\/Goblin-Shark-1-1-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153745\/Goblin-Shark-1-1-200x125.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 718px) 100vw, 718px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Calling this a &#8220;Goblin Shark&#8221; really isn&#8217;t fair to goblins. (Imgur, paper-m&acirc;ch&eacute; artwork by Adelle Caunce)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Everything about the Goblin Shark fish screams insanity. Its long nose gives it a hellish unicorn look. Its pink flesh makes it look like it&rsquo;s got no skin. You can see how people used to believe in dragons and sea monsters when there are creatures like this out there.<\/p><p>As if all that wasn&rsquo;t enough, this is the biggest fish on our list by far. For years, scientists thought they maxed out at around 13 feet. That was until 2000, when a giant female over 20 feet long was caught in the Gulf of Mexico. We still have no real idea&nbsp;just how big they&rsquo;re capable of getting.<\/p><h3 id=\"fear-factor-ballistic-bite\">Fear Factor: Ballistic Bite<\/h3><div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-3348 size-full\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"388\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153744\/Goblin-Shark.gif\" alt=\"Goblin Shark eating a Red fish\" class=\"wp-image-3348\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Once you&#8217;ve seen a Goblin Shark eating, nothing else will scare you in the same way. (NHK)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p>Goblin Sharks are slow swimmers. They don&rsquo;t chase their prey down. Instead, they hang silently in the water and use their noses to sense a fish&rsquo;s electrical waves. When a fish gets close enough, the Goblin Shark&rsquo;s jaws catapult right out from their mouth and snap shut, slicing into it or devouring it whole.<\/p><p>The Goblin Shark has a lot going for it in the horror department. It&#8217;s the perfect combination of everything that makes the ocean scary: big Sharks, grotesque monsters, and sharp teeth shooting toward you out of the dark.<\/p><h3 id=\"and-so-many-more-scary-fish\">And So Many More Scary Fish!<\/h3><p>New species are always being discovered, and the deeper we look, the weirder they get. Who knows what&rsquo;s still lurking down there? One thing&rsquo;s for sure, there are more than a few monsters waiting for us.<\/p><p><em>What&rsquo;s your most frightening fishing encounter? Which scary fish do you think we&rsquo;ve missed?&nbsp;Let us know in the comments below!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world is full of scary fish, from the infamous Piranhas of South America to Hollywood&rsquo;s go-to killers: Sharks. There&rsquo;s something about being in the water that fills people with fear. And looking at some of the things that live in it, we&rsquo;re not surprised. These spooky species take things to a whole new level [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":3324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1475],"tags":[374,453,386,452,387],"class_list":["post-3323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fish-facts","tag-listicle","tag-payara","tag-sharks","tag-sheepshead","tag-wacky-weird"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>9 Scary Fish to Haunt Your Dreams - FishingBooker Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/9-scary-fish-to-haunt-your-dreams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"9 Scary Fish to Haunt Your Dreams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Couldn\u2019t go near a pool after seeing Jaws? These nine scary fish will make you afraid to take a bath! What&#039;s more, you&#039;ve probably eaten two of them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/9-scary-fish-to-haunt-your-dreams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FishingBooker Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FishingBooker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-22T16:07:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-10T16:28:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2018\/10\/14153757\/Anglerfish-1-e1540224525672.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"718\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"507\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Albert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Albert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"9 Scary Fish to Haunt Your Dreams - FishingBooker Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/9-scary-fish-to-haunt-your-dreams\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"9 Scary Fish to Haunt Your Dreams","og_description":"Couldn\u2019t go near a pool after seeing Jaws? 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