'It might kill you in your sleep': Kiwi discovers alien-like animal in aquarium

A man has discovered an alien-like animal living in his aquarium after he filled it with plants he ripped from a lake. Photo / Angusb Reddit

A New Zealand man discovered an alien-like animal living in his aquarium after he filled it with plants that he took from Lake Waikaremoana, in Te Urewera.

A month after placing the plants in his aquarium, Angus noticed some sort of creature wriggling around in one of the green plants.

Worried about what the strange thing was, Angus shared video of the creature on Reddit, which is only about a centimetre long, swaying in an "S" formation inside the egg.

A month after placing the plants in his aquarium Angus noticed some sort of creature wriggling around in one of the green plants. Photo / Angusyb Reddit

"Am I having an alien invasion?" he asked on Reddit.

"What do I do? Is it dangerous? No fish living in the tank. Only 5 snails."

More than 500 people joined the conversation. Most were excited about a mysterious creature hatching soon, while others were scared.

"You should put a lid on the tank. You know, just to be sure if it hatches it won't kill you while you sleep," one user warned.

Another said: "It's a dragon fly or mantis and it will kill all living things after hatching."

After the video was posted, many users realised Angus' account was "shadowbanned", meaning his profile was not easily found.

This lead to many believing that this was "proof" that he had found an alien.

"Damn he is shadowbanned, proof he found an alien and got whacked by government agents," one user claimed.

A man has discovered an alien-like animal living in his aquarium after he filled it with plants he ripped from a lake. Photo / Angusb Reddit

"Contact the reddit admins to get unshadowbanned so we can all see what this thing is when it hatches."

"Will he ever get un-shadowbanned? I really want to know what it is. This whole thing is giving me chills."

After a few hours, Angus' shadowban was lifted and he was able to update people on the outcome of the creature.

He shared more footage of the creature hatching along with photos.

Angus was still unsure what the creature was, but a few people confirmed that it was a caddisfly.

The greenery was taken from Lake Waikaremoana. Photo / Angusyb Reddit

Caddisflies are a group of insects with approximately 14,500 different species.

The larvae often live in streams, rivers, lakes and ponds, while the adults have short life spans due to their inability to feed.

"100% a caddisfly, you can see the head and upper body sticking out of the case and the plant matter it's attached to it for camouflage," a user wrote.