Bizarre sea creature washes up in North Myrtle Beach. An SC marine biologist just identified it

When a 6-inch sea creature washed up in North Myrtle Beach last week, it baffled social media users and prompted a litany of jokes.

“It’s a dontatouchie,” one commenter posted. “The ocean is full of aliens!!” said another. Plenty of others made more adult jokes about the animal’s shape and size.

New Yorker Darlene Quattrone Doepp first spotted the unusual sight on an early morning walk Saturday morning. Around 6:30 a.m. near 4th Avenue, she saw the creature lying on the beach.

“I was a little freaked out, because I don’t like snakes, [and] I don’t like worms, and I’m like looking at it, thinking, ‘What the heck is it?’” Doepp said.

Shortly after she snapped a picture to share to Facebook, a wave washed over and the animal swam slowly away with “tiny legs.”

So what was the mysterious beach visitor?

According to Coastal Carolina University marine science professor Juliana Harding, the animal is actually a marine crustacean of the taxonomic order Stomatopoda, more commonly known as a mantis shrimp.

While Harding could positively identify the creature as as a stomatopod, there are more than 450 species of mantis shrimp. Without a look at the critter’s legs and claws, the specific species is “nearly impossible” to identify, she said.

“Stomatopods are normal parts of the food chain in estuaries and nearshore ocean,” Harding said. “They eat bivalves and crustaceans and are eaten by a variety of larger fishes.”

Although mantis shrimp are common enough in South Carolina, Doepp’s sighting was unusual, as the stomatopods don’t usually show up on shore. Harding speculates the shrimp may have been living in a nearby subtidal hard bottom reef or even a pier.

“It is not one of the species we commonly see in local shallow nearshore waters in softer sediment burrows,” Harding said. “It is likely a rock or crevice-dwelling species that was momentarily displaced from its usual location and then got carried inshore by waves, wind, or the combination of both.”

This story was originally published May 23, 2025 at 6:00 AM.