There are some truly magnificent animals out there. From the towering majesty of the African Elephant, to the sleek patterned beauty of the Sumatran Tiger, nature has gifted the world a whole cornucopia of stunning wildlife that enhances our world and makes it a much more interesting place to live than it would be if these creatures were not around. Of course, not everything in nature is so easy on the eye. Quite a lot of insects aren’t exactly loveable, and some of the things that live in the sea don’t bear thinking about. However, there are also some animals that hide their ghastliness away in a place where we can’t usually see it – in their mouths. Some of these creatures are pretty horrible to begin with; others really aren’t, and it’s surprising what lurks beneath the surface.
Come with us now as we show you twelve of the most hellish mouths in nature. Be warned – This is NOT for the faint-hearted!
1. Silver Lamprey
This eel-like, jawless fish isn’t exactly a looker to begin with. When it opens it monstrous maw, however, it’s time to quickly leave the water!
2. Woodpecker
Who knew ol’ Woody up there was hiding a tongue you’d usually expect to find snaking its way out of a demon’s mouth on a Medieval painting? We pity the poor insect that’s hiding in a tree and sees that slippery thing coming towards it!
3. Camel
Who knew that camels were secretly harboring the Saarlac monster from the Return of the Jedi movie in their mouths? We can only presume any food that goes in there slowly and painfully digests for a thousand years!
4. Viperfish
This … thing lives at the bottom of the ocean and sports a mouth only a mother viperfish could love. Seriously, look at that monstrosity. Did we say it lives at the bottom of the ocean? Sorry, we meant it lives in Hell. There’s no other explanation!
5. Penguin
Wait, what? This is what you see when a cute and cuddly PENGUIN opens its mouth?? Well who knew? And there was us thinking penguins were adorable on the inside as well as the outside. Turns out they’re hiding a truly horrible secret. Careful the next time you feed ’em a fish at the zoo!
6. Hagfish
This grotesque beast also goes by the name of ‘slime eel’. So, as well as having a mouth consisting of two rows of hideous yellow teeth, it produces slime on demand. Slime. Nice. We can’t see this one catching on a pet, can you?
7. Goose
Geese are pretty innocuous looking creatures. Just goosing about down there on the farm, doing what geese do. They look quite cute and comical, waddling around like that … wait! Have they got …? TEETH ON THEIR TONGUES? Run! Run away!
8. Black Dragonfish
Just like the viperfish up there, this demonic monstrosity lives at the bottom of the ocean, probably devouring the souls of the dead for sustenance. We agree with its place of residence, as nothing this hideous deserves to see the light of day.
9. Cookiecutter Shark
Aw, ‘cookiecutter’. That’s such a cute name for a fish. So why in the name of all that’s holy did they give it to these monsters?
10. Vampire Fish
The vampire fish uses those enormous fangs to impale other fish. No doubt it would also use them to impale people too, given half the chance. Luckily for the human race, it is restricted to a set of tributaries in the Amazon Rover Basin in Venezuela. So that’s the vacation to the Amazon River Basin scratched off the to-do list then.
11. Loggerhead Turtle
Surely not turtles as well? Yep, apparently so. The cuddly loggerhead turtles hides a dark secret – it’s mouth is the opening to Hades and all who enter it are damned for all eternity. We don’t remember this from Finding Nemo.
12. Pacu Fish
No. Just … no. Seriously, there’s a fish with human teeth? Yep, we’re afraid so. Sadly, the Pacu fish is not the creation of a fevered creature designer working on a new monster movie. It is in fact very real, and haunting the nightmares of fisherman who ply their trade in South America.
May God have mercy on their souls.