Lake Cryptids

The legendary lake serpent of Scotland, photographed, sonar-scanned, and never found.

Japan's mischievous water imp with a bowl of power on its head.

A shape-shifting water horse that lures riders to a watery grave in Scottish lochs.

Australia's lurking water spirit, feared by indigenous peoples for thousands of years.

Canada's answer to Nessie, coiling through the depths of Okanagan Lake.

America's own lake monster, surfacing in the waters between Vermont and New York.

Iceland's answer to the Loch Ness Monster lives in a glacial river-lake and may have been sighted on camera in 2012.

This shape-shifting water horse of Scottish lochs lures riders onto its back, then drags them to a watery death.

Something enormous has been surfacing in an Argentine lake for over a century.

Sweden's most famous lake monster has been reported for centuries and was officially designated a protected species in 1986.

Scotland's other lake monster lurks in the deepest freshwater loch in the British Isles, far from the tourist cameras of Loch Ness.

A serpentine lake dweller hiding in the frigid depths of Lake Tahoe since Washoe legend.

A scaly, goat-like creature that charged a crowd of onlookers at a Texas lake in 1969.

Norway's lake monster has been sighted over 500 times in a small mountain lake, making it one of the most reported freshwater cryptids in Europe.

A serpent with a woman's head that haunts riverbanks, cradling a phantom baby to paralyze its prey.

Sacred water guardians of Maori tradition that shape rivers, protect tribes, and sometimes drag the unwary to their doom.

A bloated, frog-faced old man lurks at the bottom of Slavic rivers, drowning the careless and keeping their souls in teapots.

The largest Great Lake may harbor the largest Great Lake monster, a creature linked to Ojibwe legends of the underwater panther.

A serpentine terror of Bear Lake, first reported by Mormon settlers and Shoshone alike.

Russia's lake monster reportedly swallowed a Mongol war party's horses whole and has been spotted by modern fishermen with sonar equipment.

Lake Manitoba's serpentine lake monster has been reported by Indigenous communities for centuries and photographed at least twice.

Japan's answer to Nessie lives in a volcanic crater lake on the southern tip of Kyushu.

A lake monster lurks in the cross-border waters of Lake Memphremagog, spotted from both the Quebec and Vermont shores.

Something massive moves beneath Alaska's largest lake, and the locals know to stay clear.

A giant snapping turtle the size of a dining table, spotted in an Indiana farm pond.

It lies flat on the water like a discarded cowhide, until something steps on it.

A saber-toothed, armored aquatic predator was reported in a Kenyan river by a big-game hunter in 1907.

A giant aquatic lizard once said to inhabit remote Himalayan valleys before being deliberately exterminated.

Chilean rivers hide a fox-tailed serpent that creates deadly whirlpools to drown the unwary.

In Zambian lakes, a massive horned beast surfaces with enough force to capsize fishing boats.