A rare - and creepy - deep-sea fish washed ashore on a California beach

• A Pacific footballfish, a species of the anglerfish, washed ashore in Newport Beach, California.
• The fish was found by a beachgoer at Crystal Cove State Park on Friday.
• The species closely resembles the creepy fish found by Dory and Marlin in "Finding Nemo."

A rare deep-sea fish washed up on the shore of a state park in Newport Beach, California, last week.

A Pacific footballfish, a species of the anglerfish, was found on Friday in Crystal Cove State Park's Marine Protected Area (MPA), the park said on Instagram.

Jessica Roame, the education coordinator at Davey's Locker Sportfishing & Whale Watching, told Yahoo News that a beach goer found the fish.

The female fish - which closely resembles the creepy fish found by Dory and Marlin in "Finding Nemo" - has an 18-inch wide mouth and possesses a long stalk on its head that helps attract prey into darkness with bioluminescent tips.

Anglerfish can live as deep as 3,000 feet below the water's surface so it's rare to find them on the beach, Crystal Cove State Park said.