These animals are known to terrify people, either due to their appearance or because of their reputation.
List of 21 Animals that have a Scary Appearance
1. Atlantic Wolffish
With its sharp teeth and long body, the Atlantic wolffish can come off as intimidating and creepy. However, it feeds on sea urchins and green crabs to help maintain the habitats where bottom dwellers live.
2. Basking Shark
While completely harmless, when this massive shark opens its maw, it is challenging not to feel a bit terrified.
3. Black Mamba
Widely considered the world’s deadliest snake, if threatened, the black mamba puts on an aggressive display by opening its ink-black mouth and biting several times in quick succession. Its venom is neurotoxic and can be fatal to humans.
4. Coconut Crab
The coconut crab is the biggest arthropod that lives on land, growing over 3 feet tall, and can feed on rats and birds. Thankfully, its preferred diet includes coconuts, and the species nowadays live separately from humans.
5. Colossal Squid
Reaching up to 30 feet, the colossal squid is the largest known invertebrate in the world. These behemoths live in the “midnight zone” of the ocean, using their large eyes to detect their next meal.
6. Giant African Millipede
The giant African millipede has over 200 legs and secretes irritating liquids from its pores if attacked.
7. Giant Amazonian Centipede
Also known as the Peruvian giant yellow-leg centipede, this species is the largest centipede in the world at over 12 inches. It will feed on any animal it can overpower and employs potent venom.
8. Giant Forest Scorpion
The largest scorpion in the world, the giant forest scorpion doesn’t even require its venom to kill its prey. It will instead employ its large pincers to crush its victim to death.
9. Giant Huntsman Spider
A resident of Laos, the giant huntsman spider is the largest spider by leg span. It generally lives in caves and has large eyes for seeing in the dark.
10. Goblin Shark
Between its bright pink color, extendable jaws, and long, flat snout, the goblin shark looks extremely strange. It lives at depths of 890–3,150 ft, where an encounter with this shark’s visage can be pretty terrifying.
11. Goliath Birdeater
While it rarely preys on birds, the goliath birdeater tarantula is the heaviest spider, weighing about 6 oz. They liquefy the insides of their meals and drain the fluids as a form of consumption.
12. Goliath Tigerfish
The goliath tigerfish is a big predatory fish in the Congo River Basin. Its large teeth – each about an inch long – give it a scary appearance. The only natural predator an adult goliath tigerfish has is the Nile crocodile.
13. Great White Shark
Arguably among the most feared animals on the planet, the great white shark is responsible for several fatal attacks on humans – the most among all sharks. However, while its reputation among humans is mostly poor, the shark mostly bites humans out of curiosity and not because they want to consume them.
14. Green Anaconda
One of the longest snakes and the heaviest, the green anaconda, lives in South America. They constrict their prey, choking them to death before swallowing them whole.
15. Hippopotamus
Serving as living proof that being herbivorous does not make an animal any less terrifying, the hippopotamus has a reputation for being extremely aggressive. Making this worse is its unpredictable behavior, as it has attacked boats and raided farm crops.
16. Komodo Dragon
Komodo dragons are apex predators that deliver powerful bites and are considered aggressive. Their lower jaws have glands that have a strong anti-coagulant, which means a single bite would lead to an eventual death as a result of blood loss and shock.
17. Shoebill
With its intimidating appearance and large size, the shoebill appears quite terrifying. However, the species is quite docile and generally feeds on fish.
18. Sloane’s Viperfish
Like most viperfish species, Sloane’s viperfish can be identified from its large eyes, elongated body, and sharp, long teeth. It lives in the deep sea, swimming at high speeds and impaling potential prey on its teeth.
19. Southern Black Widow
The venom of the female black widow is quite feared but is rarely lethal to healthy humans.
20. Star-nosed Mole
The first thing that catches one’s eye when looking at the star-nosed mole is the titular star nose. While giving this species a creepy appearance, the appendage helps the almost bling mole to move about.
21. Vampire Squid
A deep sea creature with a terrifying appearance, the vampire squid is the sole surviving member of its family – a species with characteristics from both octopi and squids.
