A fisherman was terrified after catching a mystery sea creature with dozens of long black legs.

Desha Srichai, 41, pulled in the bizarre life form with long spindly limbs moving like a spider in Krabi province, southern Thailand, on November 30.

He noticed the odd-looking creature among the fish and recoiled with horror - hurling the net to the ground.

The curious fisherman poked the mystery creature with a stick and considered whether to burn it, before making a video on his phone to help identify the species.

He said: "At first I thought it was just a twig but then the thing started to move. I was scared and leapt back.

''It confused me because that was the first time I saw such a strange creature.''

The curious man took several pictures and videos of the animal before releasing it back to the estuarine river where he had been fishing.

He showed the footage to his friends who helped him identify what the creature is - which is believed to be a dark black feather starfish.

Desha added: ''I used the stick to knock it back into the water. I hope I don't catch anything like that again.''

The feather starfish is a marine animal with several dangling feeding arms that can regenerate after being cut. The creature consumes plankton and is normally found on the seafloor.