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Specs was a cryptid marine invertebrate reported once on 11 March 1959, off Miami Beach, Florida, the United States. It was reported by diver Bob Wall, who was diving below a glass-bottom boat to point out marine life to tourists about 35' below the surface. When Wall investigated a large underwater cave, he saw an animal with a 5'5'' long cylindrical body, standing on eight hairy legs which raised it 3' off the ground, with a pointed head featuring stalked, dollar-sized eyes. When the animal began to move towards him, Wall swam away.[1][2]
The media named the animal 'Specs,' and though it was sought by a team of divers from Miami Aquarium the following day, it was never reported again.[1]
Mark A. Hall suggested that Specs, alongside other cryptids such as freshwater octopuses and the cuero, was a surviving, evolved eurypterid or sea scorpion, which disappear from the fossil record at the end of the Permian.[3] Karl Shuker notes that the description is not very reminiscent of a eurypterid, which had flattened bodies and round heads, and argues that the simplest explanation is an oversized specimen of an American spiny lobster (Panilurus sp.), which do live in holes, and sometimes have conspicuous eye-like spots.[1]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Shuker, Karl P. N. (2016) Still In Search Of Prehistoric Survivors: The Creatures That Time Forgot?, Coachwhip Publications, ISBN 978-1616463908
- ↑ Eberhart, George M. (2002) Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology, ABC-CLIO, Inc., ISBN 1576072835
- ↑ Hall, Mark A. (1991) Natural Mysteries: Monster Lizards, English Dragons, and Other Puzzling Animals, Mark A. Hall Publications and Research