- We’re going to need a bigger boat…
The sea is a weird and scary place. We’re lucky in one sense, though — even the biggest fish today aren’t that big.
Sure, something like the whale shark and basking shark are pretty enormous, but they’re harmless plankton eaters. The great white shark might be big but even that pales in comparison to the things that used to lurk in the depths.
Here are seven ancient fish that are sure to make you wish for a bigger boat — if you ever want to put a foot on a boat again.
7. Megalodon
You have likely heard of Megalodon, but you can’t have a list of horrible fish without this monster making an appearance. But in case you somehow haven’t heard of Megalodon, you might be wondering what it is.
Well, take a great white shark. Now scale it up to the size of a whale shark. That’s a Megalodon.
Megalodon was an enormous carnivorous shark that lived about 23 to 4 million years ago. It is one of the largest predators to have ever existed on this planet.
That said, although we know that Megalodon was definitely huge, we don’t know exactly how big it was. Sharks are mostly made of cartilage, so the only remains we’ve found of a Megalodon are some teeth, jaws, and vertebrae.
On the small end of the scale, the Megalodon would’ve been “only” 35 feet long. The largest estimates, however, state this beastie grew to be more than 65 feet long — much bigger than a whale shark.
6. Dunkleosteus
Dunkleosteus is another relatively famous monster fish. It was a placoderm — a type of ancient fish covered in bony armor plates — and it was one of, if not the biggest of its kind.
Dunkleosteus lived around 350 million years ago and its family consisted of multiple species. The biggest of them, Dunkleosteus terelli, could grow up to be more than 30 feet long and weigh over 4 tons.
But that’s not the scary part of the Dunkleosteus. That would be the jaws.
According to estimates based on the fish’s skeletal structure, this monstrosity had one of the most powerful bites of any animal, ever. In this case, it doesn’t really matter how big your boat is.
The Dunkleosteus will take a bite out of it if it feels like it.
5. Hyneria
Perhaps you thought you’d be safe from giant man-eating fish if you just stayed out of the oceans. Thanks to the time machine you conveniently keep in your closet, you decide to travel back some 360 million years and go swim in a river.
Well, tough luck. A Hyneria just took a bite out of you.
Hyneria is one of the largest freshwater fish to have existed. It could grow to be around 10 feet long — more than a foot of which was made up of jaws.
If you’ve read or watched some shows about ancient monsters (most famously Walking with Monsters) you may have heard that the Hyneria could drag itself onto land with its strong fins. However, there’s no actual scientific proof that it could do so.
Because the last thing you need is this thing crawling ashore behind you.
4. Rhizodus
Hyneria was one of the largest freshwater fish ever, but what is the largest? That’s either the still-living beluga sturgeon — or the Rhizodus.
The Rhizodus, living roughly around the same time as the Hyneria, lurked in the rivers and lakes of what would eventually become northern Europe. It grew to be around 20 feet long, but the biggest ones may have had a few feet on top of that.
That would make it bigger than the largest recorded great white.
The Rhizodus had long, fang-like teeth that could be up to 8.5 feet long. Although it’s speculated to have eaten mostly medium-sized amphibians, some researchers also suggest it could leap out of the water to grab a hapless creature off the shore and pull it into the water.
3. Megapiranha
Piranhas are already intimidating enough. But what if they were at least twice as big?
That’s what the Megapiranha was. At least if its teeth are to be believed.
The only remains we’ve found of a Megapiranha are its jaws, containing a zigzagging row of mean teeth. Based on the chompers, the creature was pretty much exactly like a modern piranha — just a lot bigger.
Of course, it could’ve been the same size and simply have stupidly oversized jaws. At least you might have a good chuckle while the ridiculous creature rips chunks out of your body.
2. Xiphactinus
Do you know what nightmares are made of? We didn’t until we saw the Xiphapctinus’ face.
If there ever was a creature that was made purely to kill things, the Xihpactinus is it. This horrendous fish could grow to be up to 20 feet long and its jaws were…
Just look at that thing!
Here’s a fun fact — paleontologists have found multiple Xiphactinus fossils with their fossilized prey still in their stomachs. In one case, a 14-foot Xiphactinus had swallowed another 6.2-foot fish whole.
That means it wouldn’t even need to use those nightmarish teeth on you. It could just gulp you down.
1. Leedsichtys
If you saw an isolated picture of a Leedsichtys, you probably wouldn’t find it very intimidating. It kind of looks like a mackerel or something.
But let’s put that mackerel into perspective. It was big. Really big.
In fact, it’s probably the biggest bony fish to ever live.
Once again, it’s kind of hard to estimate a fish’s size based on its fragmentary remains. Although some estimates have claimed it could grow up to 98 feet to rival blue whales, it’s more realistic that it was around 55-60 feet long.
The good news is that like whales, the Leedsichtys was a docile plankton eater. Still, we wouldn’t want to run into one in case it does get angry.