Those Flesh-Eating Creatures In Melbs’ Water Have Finally Been Identified

It’s been a wild and horrifying couple of days in ocean-related news. Just yesterday, we learned of a Melbourne teen whose legs somehow got munched to bloodied shreds by unidentified sea creatures, and earlier today the kid’s dad managed to catch and film a bunch of the little buggers going berserk on bits of fresh meat (hurf).

Now, some slightly better news: the bloodthirsty denizens of the deep have been identified by none other than Museums Victoria‘s marine biologist.

Genefor Walker-Smith managed to cop a look at the sea-bugs Jarrod Kanizay caught at Brighton Beach, and confirmed that they are lysianassid amphipods.

They’re a “naturally-occurring” (you’d hope so) scavenging crustacean, who apparently often bite but do not often cause the hectic wounds that Sam Kanizay copped on his lower legs.

Walker-Smith said that it’s possible the crustaceans’ bite contains an anticoagulant, which would explain why Sam’s doctors had a helluva time trying to stop the bleeding.

u little shit

Happily, we can rest assured that the vicious bastards are not venomous, and aren’t likely to cause any lasting damage. Also, apparently, they’re often called “sea fleas” – not, as many have been saying, “sea lice“, which refers to isopods.

What’s that? You can’t be expected to immediately tell the difference between your amphipods and your isopods? Pff. Amateur.

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV