Dune sandworm in real life? Meet the blood-sucking 'vampire' lamprey

'It was like a hugely oversized leech with a sucker full of sharp, inward-pointing teeth'

Courtesy Will Miles

IT looks like the monstrous sandworms depicted in Dune, but this blood-sucking “vampire fish” and its mouth full of swirling teeth are all too real.

Will Miles, 26, encountered the bizarre creature on the beach near Exmouth Marina in Devon while taking a post-work stroll last week.

He said: “It was very noticeable, lying in the centre part of the beach near the tideline – I was on a walk after work.

“It was like a hugely oversized leech with a sucker full of sharp, inward-pointing teeth.”

The creature is a sea lamprey – a species known for sucking the blood of their prey; hence the “vampire fish” nickname.

Once widespread in the UK, they’re now rare, with their decline blamed on low water quality and man-made barriers in the rivers where they breed.

Mr Miles, a warehouse worker from Bovey Tracey, estimated it was about 80cm long – just short of the height of an average two-year-old.