Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I watched this small creature in the water in this vertical position. It appeared that it was catching small fish that would get close to it. Sorry the pic is not too sharp. I've never seen a snake hang in the water like this. If not a snake, could it be an eel?

Don't know where you are but it looks like a lamprey to me. They are mean little suckers. They will latch onto people and suck your blood. They normally feed on dead or dying fish and suck them dry, but people can be targeted as well.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: thekingofproduct
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

"Some things will never change. They just stand there looking backwards. Half-unconsious from the pain. They may seem rearranged. In the backwater swirling. There is something that'll never change-The Meat Puppets"

Looks like Nessie to me......
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

I have seen Elephant Trunk Snakes (Achrocordus) do this in Southeast Asia. The sit on the bottom for hours, occasionally sticking up their heads like that to breath.

If you hadn't said this one was chasing fish, I would swear it was a branch!
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Chris Harrison

There is just something about that round opening on top where the head is supposed to be that makes it look like a lamprey to me (one of the jawless fish). That is at least what I sort of thought it looked like, based on the images and preserved specimens I have seen.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: thekingofproduct
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

"Some things will never change. They just stand there looking backwards. Half-unconsious from the pain. They may seem rearranged. In the backwater swirling. There is something that'll never change-The Meat Puppets"

Lambrey have a circular mouth on the bottom of their head, something along the lines of what an alage eating fish would have.

They also wouldn't spend much time at the surface as they are somewhat shy.

Approximately what size was it? Where are you located? How deep was the water? Salt? Fresh?

There are some waterborn insects that'll hang from the surface tension of the water and catch fish, but they prefer weedy hunting grounds. They're also a bit smaller, the largest I know of being about 6" long.

Also, are you 100% sure it's alive not just bobbing with the current, or fish knocking into it? I did some photo shopping of the image and I couldn't get any usefull detail out of it, then again it's a blurry image to begin with.

Almost looks like a snake neck turtle.

If it's in freshwater I think it might be a leech of some kind, nasty little bastards will get down into you're swimsuit on latch right on to you.

Your all way off on this one. The picture is deceptive because of the silty water. Beavers are often mistakes for lake monster because they often leave a snake like trail behind them in the silt that deceptively looks like its body, its actual body hidden below the water. This is the same effect, if you look closely at what is above the water you can make out the eyes and head of a frog and part of one arm.

Thats what I saw too... but i have never seen frogs chasing fish. That looks like a leopard frog to me.
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1.0 Normal Corn Snake
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 BCI
0.1 California King

The creature was in a large Alligator pond in Louisiana. There were two of us that watched this "thing". At first I thought it was a stick. But it would twist and turn and go sideways after a little fish. It just wasn't close enough to get a good view. The pic is definitely blown up on my computer as I thought I would be able to tell something. I appreciate the comments and suggestions of what it might be.

.

It still looks like a stick or a piece of metal pipe to me.

If it really was alive, I would have to agree that it might have been an aquatic salamander. The only one that would look like that would be an Amphiuma.
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Chris Harrison

its clearly a frog. I have kept all sorts of aquatic salamanders including Amphibiumas and none of them have frog eyes. the trail that seems to snake behind the head, is an optical illusion created by the silt in the pond. take a piece of paper and cover up the part that is below the water line and the frog will be revealed.

Actually, Its possible that its an adult tiger salamander they do have frog like eyes and swim with their limbs at their sides.

That's a leech. I tried every possible way to see a frog with one arm but could not see it. If it was aquatic amphibian larvae it's head would be bigger then the tail portion. If the refraction of the water could be blamed for that then you still would have to explain the presence of larvae this late in the year. I don't know all the species of amphibians in LA but I live next door in TX and I have never seen a tadpole this late in the year.
It is almost a perfect outline of a leech. I have never seen a leech hang on the surface like that but I don't doubt that they can or would if they thought they could find some blood there.

Im going with leech,

Arik

Where are you in TX? I still see larvae up to late September or October. As well, bullfrog tadpoles can be tadpoles for a few years so they are obviously around year round (if weather permits). I am not saying it is not a leech, but simply that amphibian larva are still out and about.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: thekingofproduct
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

"Some things will never change. They just stand there looking backwards. Half-unconsious from the pain. They may seem rearranged. In the backwater swirling. There is something that'll never change-The Meat Puppets"

look at the head sticking out of the water. the view is from behind and you can clearly see two frog eyes. a tadpole doesn't have eyes that are raised above the head and the only aquatic salamander that has eyes like that are tiger salamanders, leaches certainly don't.

Maybe this will help. I took the photo and crudely drew in an outline of what is hidden by the silty water.

You were correct about the larvae metamorphosis times. I have never been much into amphs. and prob have just never paid much attention to the last day of the year I notice amph larvae. I was mistaken.
However, that drawing gave me the view you were talking about and now I definately don't see the frog.
The pic you posted was heavily pixilated. (prob. from loading into MS paint and resaved). If you look at the origional the lines on the sides are very crisp until you get towards the bottom. Plus even in your pic I dont see anything in the origional supporting your drawing of the limbs. Also consider the scenario.... two guys watching this thing for awhile.....it darted and twisted towards fish. I have seen frogs go after food and its usually over in the blink of an eye. There may be darting but when he described darting and twisting it made me think of leech right off.
I guess I just find it hard to fathom that a frog could be observed for any length of time, in open water, on the suface, without even the most secluded person in the world not knowing its a frog. A leech however might not be as recognizable to some.

Not to mention the fact that it looks just like a leech in body shape. I cant draw as good as you or I'd draw my leech pic.lol

My 2 cents
Arik

Agreed. The only thing I saw that looked like a frog was the drawn in outline.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: thekingofproduct
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

"Some things will never change. They just stand there looking backwards. Half-unconsious from the pain. They may seem rearranged. In the backwater swirling. There is something that'll never change-The Meat Puppets"

I'm still 60% leaning toward it being a stick and this being a hoax, or an honest mistake

>>I'm still 60% leaning toward it being a stick and this being a hoax, or an honest mistake

I agree. I've taken this photo into Photoshop CS and pretty much picked it apart. I can't find anything that resembles part of a living creature. One of the problems with it (besides the obvious photo quality problems) is that there is nothing in the photo for size reference. There is no way to know how big this thing is. It does look like a floating stick to me, though.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I didn't intend the original or subsequent posts to be anything except an honest attempt for identification of whatever it is in the pic. I was with a friend who also watched and photographed this in the extremely silty water. I originally thought it was an eel of some kind but because of the comments here and more searching on my part I don't think that it is. I have no idea what it is ...... but maybe it is a stick....that moved strangely at times. Thank you all for your comments and ideas. Please don't call me a hoaxer because I love this forum and read here frequently. I would like to be able to post pics in the future if needed.

>>I didn't intend the original or subsequent posts to be anything except an honest attempt for identification of whatever it is in the pic. I was with a friend who also watched and photographed this in the extremely silty water. I originally thought it was an eel of some kind but because of the comments here and more searching on my part I don't think that it is. I have no idea what it is ...... but maybe it is a stick....that moved strangely at times. Thank you all for your comments and ideas. Please don't call me a hoaxer because I love this forum and read here frequently. I would like to be able to post pics in the future if needed.

Passport, I certainly did not intent to insinuate that your post was anything less than an honest request for an identification. I don't recall saying anything about a hoax, and if I did I owe you an apology. I just said that after dissecting the photo as well as possible with Photoshop CS, I couldn't find anything that looked like part of a living creature. Sometimes water movement can make a suspended piece of debris take on a "life" of it's own and cause it to move in odd ways. I hope it wasn't me that offended you.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

It was I who stated this could be a hoax, and didn't want it to sound like i was calling you a hoaxer, just that it was either that, or an honest mistake, but I would lean toward this being a stick that was being moved byt something under the water, a turtle perhaps.

>>It was I who stated this could be a hoax, and didn't want it to sound like i was calling you a hoaxer, just that it was either that, or an honest mistake, but I would lean toward this being a stick that was being moved byt something under the water, a turtle perhaps.

Yeah, to tell you the truth, when I was picking the photo apart with Photoshop, I was trying my best to make it a Softshell sitting on the bottom in shallow water with his neck stretched up and just his nose poking out of the water...but I just couldn't get there.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Look I don't know what the deal is. Its a little fustrating that I am the only one who can see it, but I'll tell you again what your looking at. First of all what appears as the body, is nothing more then a silt trail and yes to a casual observer this gives the illusion of a body twisting and moving as it dissipates. If you look closely at just the part that is above the water, you are looking at the head of a frog from the back. You can even make out the pupil of the right eye. I had to translate this image to bitmap to get it to upload. The heavy pixelation clearly shows the body to be dissepating silt trail.Perhaps its my interests in cryptozoology and the many false pictures of lake monsters that I have looked at that turned out to be beavers moving through silty water with the same effect that makes this so recognizeable to me.

then it's the bravest frog in the world, and it has an eating disorder.

Seriously-- what frog would sit there as long as the post says? All of the frogs I've ever seen in the water waste no time in ducking under and swimming for cover. Being so close to the bottom of the food chain makes you wary.

And speaking of the food chain, what frog floats in the water and tries to ea swimming fish?

>>then it's the bravest frog in the world, and it has an eating disorder.
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>>Seriously-- what frog would sit there as long as the post says? All of the frogs I've ever seen in the water waste no time in ducking under and swimming for cover. Being so close to the bottom of the food chain makes you wary.
>>
>>And speaking of the food chain, what frog floats in the water and tries to ea swimming fish?

Why, that would be your regular Floating Fish-Eating Frog. I thought everybody knew that. It's only surprising to me that this is the first time it's been captured on film. After all, they are native to Cameroon. Since everybody there carries a camera (that's how the country got it's name), you would think that someone would have gotten this picture before.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Around here bullfrogs eat everthing that moves. And you have obviously never hunted frogs or you'd know the best way to catch them was with a fly fishing setup which they bite at while floating in the water.

>>Around here bullfrogs eat everthing that moves. And you have obviously never hunted frogs or you'd know the best way to catch them was with a fly fishing setup which they bite at while floating in the water.

I'm well aware of the habits of Bullfrogs. I've probably caught more of them in my life than you've ever seen. I was born and raised in the swamps of Louisiana. It was a joke....take a pill.

By the way, a fly-fishing "setup" doesn't emulate fish, it emulates flies...thus the name "fly-fishing".
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

All this time i could never figure out why I never cought any flies. I never knew I was supposed to be catching fish.

To catch flies, take a little bit of honey and put it on your tongue. open your mouth wide and close it shut when you feel something land on your tongue. Actually honey works better for bees and rotting meat for flies.

I am kidding too, but seriously its a frog.