I've never seen such exotic creatures in 50 years of fishing'

A seahorse is among a collection of exotic-looking sea creatures which have washed up on a Kent beach.

The finds were made by Jerry Styles, who discovered the interesting marine animals along the shoreline in Walmer.

Alongside the seahorse, a brightly-coloured dragonet fish was found, as well as a dogfish, which is a type of small shark.

Mr Styles told KentOnline: "I have been fishing for 50 years but I've never seen animals like that before.

"When I first saw the seahorse, I thought it was a kids toy."

The 58-year-old made the discovery on a walk before work at about 6.30am.

He added: "I'm always on the beach and I've never seen a seahorse - even when I used to do lots of diving I didn't see any.

"You don't think they're out there - not in our bit of the coast."

There are two types of seahorses normally found in British waters.

This particular one was a short-snouted seahorse, which are usually found in shallow waters near estuaries.

They use their tail to cling onto seagrass or seaweed, and as they do not have teeth suck up their favourite prey of small shrimp and plankton.

Short-snouted seahorses are often found along the south coast of England and are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

The colourful fish was identified as a common dragonet – a sand dweller found in European waters from Norway to Iceland.

Males have the vibrant appearance, while females are a dull brown.

They usually eat worms and crustaceans and spend most of their time buried in the sand.

As well as these two aquatic creatures, a dogfish was also lying on the shore.

They are the most common small British shark and are often sold as Huss or Rock Salmon in fish and chip shops.

Mr Styles, an electrician, said: "You just have to be in the right place at the right time to see these things.

"You never know what you're going to see, and it changes year-on-year.

"The sea is slowly warming up and that might be why I've seen them, a couple of years ago I saw a sunfish near Dover harbour.

"We've seen dolphins swim past us too - there's more and more happening now."

Acuarium