Internet sleuths have identified the mysterious sea creature that bit a British tourist in the Australian ocean, with answers ranging from the deadly, to the downright amusing.
‘I’m a Brit, I went in the sea in your country and got stung or bit or something,’ the man posted to Reddit on Thursday.
The photo showed five small black dots on the heel of his foot.
Viewers were quick to lend their opinion to the confused Brit, with some even taking the opportunity to ‘troll’ him.
Internet sleuths think they have identified the mysterious sea creature that bit a British tourist after he took a dip in the Australian ocean (pictured)
Guesses ranged from exotic species of octopus, squid, marine ‘hoop snakes’ and even fish to explain the strange puncture marks.
‘Could be the very rare ocean drop bear,’ one person suggested. Or, the ‘drop squid’ another joined in.
‘It’s just a five-legged blue ringed octopus saying hello,’ someone else suggested.
One cheeky commenter said the bite must have been from ‘the extremely common Pommy Whinge Fish.’
Another said the bites ‘will start to itch as the larvae hatch and begin eating their way out.’
However, the consensus among most ocean-loving Aussies was the marks were the result of a relatively harmless sea urchin.
‘Sea urchin spine puncture marks?’ one person offered.
A former diving instructor suggested the Brit should ‘pull out any spike fragments remaining in your foot with tweezers and keep clean’.
‘There’ll probably be some minor localised infection around the wounds and be a little painful for a couple of days but you’ll live,’ they wrote.
The spines of sea urchins have been known to sting unsuspecting swimmers if they are disturbed in the rocky parts of the water where they normally live (stock image)
The spines of sea urchins have been known to sting unsuspecting swimmers if they are disturbed in the rocky parts of the water where they normally live.
The sting from a sea urchin can be extremely painful, leaving puncture wounds on the skin that is a blue-black bruised colour.
The Australian visitor posted a photo of the heel of their foot to Reddit on Thursday (stock image)