Help needed identifying unknown lobster / scorpion like creature

reply to post by nikkibee


Hi Nikki,
That's quite a close match too!
I don't remember my sighting having such large front claws, and I think that it had heavier legs too, but the overall look is definitely very similar. Mine probably lives in salt (sea) water or possibly the sewer, as there's no river or even stream nearby. Oh, and I'm not so sure that a crayfish can run whilst on dry land??? Anyone know?

Thanks for the suggestion though! (It is definitely pretty close!)

reply to post by Gordi The Drummer


I have followed this thread and it interested me so i have done some research into some of the creatures that i thought it may have been , but to my amazement i have not been able to find anything on the internet to fit ur discription. This is the closest i got, but its not right its a viola hermit crab there are a lot of different species of this crab and can live in all different enviroments maybe even scotland, and on wiki some are described as scavengers who will live in groups of about 100 so i thought that because the creature you seen went into the sewers that maybe it was a sub species.

www.thespidershop.co.uk...

whatever this creature is its definitely a strange one

yes a crayfish can run on land and they can move swiftly.

reply to post by icedancer


Hi Icedancer,

Yeah, I was the same... searched for ages looking for any creatures that resembled my sighting, but it was difficult because I literally don't know what it was. I don't have a name for it, a general species, anything really!

I think we may be getting close with the crayfish type creatures tho...

Thanks again to everyone who's trying to help.

reply to post by Gordi The Drummer


Hi I have done some more research in to your mysterious creature and i think that maybe it was a member of the Astacopsis gouldi family of some sort or a animal never seen before.

4.bp.blogspot.com...

I hope this help

hi i have read the posts on your thread, and also your description of the creature and it sounds to me a little bit like a sea scorpion, here have a look at this and tell me if its anything like this. ( the one in the pic isnt gray but some are a grayish color)

s3.amazonaws.com...

these creatures can breathe in or out of water and, contrary to how their legs look, can move quite quickly, they go onland to lay their eggs just above the shoreline to keep them out of danger from sea predators. mabye you saw a female coming to lay her eggs.

by the way, this is a very large example in the pic.

reply to post by anondude


here is some information that may help. it is very complicated so i have tryed to make it as clear as possible.

Many eurypterids had legs large and long enough to do more than allow them to crawl over the sea bottom; a number of species (particularly hibbertopterids) had large stout legs, and were probably capable of terrestrial locomotion (like land crabs today). Studies of what are believed to be their trackways indicate that eurypterids used in-phase, hexapodous (six-legged) and octopodous (eight-legged) gaits. Some species may have been amphibious, emerging onto land for at least part of their life cycle; they may have been capable of breathing both in water and in air.[5] A predatory arthropod whose traces are known as Protichnites,[6] found in Cambrian strata dating from 510 million years ago, is a possible stem group eurypterid, and is among the first evidence of animals on land.[7]

Subsequent studies placed eurypterids closer to the arachnids in a group called Metastomata.[11] There has also been a prevailing idea that eurypterids are closely related to scorpions, which they resemble.[12] This hypothesis is reflected in the common name 'sea scorpion'. More recently it has been recognised that a little-known, extinct group called Chasmataspida also shares features with Eurypterida,[13] and the two groups were sometimes confused with one another. The most recent summary of relationships between arachnids and their relatives recognised Eurypterida, Xiphosura and Arachnida as three major groups, but was not able to resolve details between them.[14]

that is not the most interesting part. the last sighting of one of these animals was in East Kirkton limestone quarry in Scotland in 1836 and was recorded to have been 1.6 metre long and a light brown colour. there has been a lot of research into these amazing creatures and Their fossils have been found worldwide, except in Antarctica. there is ongoing research led by Simon Braddy at the University of Bristol,

I hope this helps

reply to post by Gordi The Drummer


Sounds similar to the NZ weta, horrible things they are and they look like something between a scorpio and cricket but large and hairy.

Plenty of Scots come and go from NZ

. Aaaaghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I knew this forum would not let me down in helping me get some of the sadder world news out of my head. But now I am not sure I will sleep very soundly the next few nights knowing all these scary creatures really exist. I am so glad I live where the worst things we have are invading Asian stink bugs, camel crickets, and black widow spiders and the occasional large extra maniacal fuzzy spider. I can't help but worry what horror some crazy person is keeping as a pet. A pet that is just waiting to escape and give a poor arachnophobic lady a good fright and heart attack one dark and foggy night.

OP you are a brave person indeed to jog to catch up to the thing. If I were to see anything even remotely like what you are describing, I'd run shrieking at the top of my lungs in the opposite direction.

Hmm, just reading the OP, I suspect a crayfish.

Take a look and see what you think.

www.gwpc.org...

reply to post by bluemirage5


personally i'd say that weta, thing looks more like a cross between a cricket and a flea. not a very nice combination haha

reply to post by icedancer


Thanks Ice, another scary critter there! but I don't think it's a match unfortunately.

(hard to tell from that photo)

great stuff though!

reply to post by anondude


Hey Anon!
That creature gives me the HeebyJeebies!!!!
Jeeez, I thought that the one I saw was scary!!!!!

It's so hard to tell, but I think my sighting was smaller, slimmer and had less variation in the limbs, it was very... uniform, sort of rectangular in profile when seen from above.

It's definitely a similar sort of creature though, lots of common features there and I don't think I'll get any sleep tonight!!!

G

Originally posted by icedancer
reply to post by anondude

 

...that is not the most interesting part. the last sighting of one of these animals was in East Kirkton limestone quarry in Scotland in 1836 and was recorded to have been 1.6 metre long and a light brown colour...

OK, now I'm DEFINITELY not going to get any sleep!!!!!

Thank you SO much!! This is very interesting info.

G

Originally posted by SheeplFlavoredAgain

. Aaaaghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I knew this forum would not let me down in helping me get some of the sadder world news out of my head. But now I am not sure I will sleep very soundly the next few nights knowing all these scary creatures really exist. I am so glad I live where the worst things we have are invading Asian stink bugs, camel crickets, and black widow spiders and the occasional large extra maniacal fuzzy spider. I can't help but worry what horror some crazy person is keeping as a pet. A pet that is just waiting to escape and give a poor arachnophobic lady a good fright and heart attack one dark and foggy night.

OP you are a brave person indeed to jog to catch up to the thing. If I were to see anything even remotely like what you are describing, I'd run shrieking at the top of my lungs in the opposite direction.

Sheepl!!!! I just posted that I'll not get any sleep tonight!!!! Then read your post!!! Great Minds????

The decision to catch up with it was a split second...."what the f^%$ was THAT??" kind of reaction, and I was VERY relieved when it ran into the storm drain / drainage hole thing, ughh I just got a shiver again!

Sleep tight!

G

reply to post by bluemirage5


Thanks Blue, (sorry I missed your post earlier.)

That Weta is another creepy one isn't it!

I don't think it was what I saw, but it does have some similarities,

thanks for sharing!

G

Anything like this? www.dkimages.com...

Here's some other pics. They vary a lot in color and size, like shallow water and burrow in sand, coral sand, live rock and are extremely fast.
www.google.com... CEYQsAQ&biw=775&bih=394

reply to post by mtnshredder


Hi mtn,
Sorry, that 1st pic isn't like my sighting. The legs are much too scrawny!

(Likewise the creatures in your last post!)

Mine was MUCH bigger, strong, heavy legs, armoured looking, very scary!

thanks
G

Try these beauties any of em look familiar? All prehistoric and all from Scottland, well they used to be anyway, or still might be who knows