I don’t think anyone is fascinated by the appearance of moray eels - despite the often beautiful color of its body, the appearance of this fish is repulsive. The predatory look of small, prickly eyes, an unpleasant mouth with needle-like teeth, a snake-like body and the inhospitable character of moray eels are absolutely not conducive to friendly communication.
Let's try to get to know this interesting and interesting unique fish. Perhaps our attitude towards her will warm up, at least a little.
Moray eels (Muraena) belong to a genus of fish from the eel family (Muraenidae). About 200 species of moray eels live in the seas of the World Ocean. Most of of these prefers the warm waters of tropical and subtropical zones. A frequent visitor to coral reefs and underwater rocks.
Quite often found in the Red Sea, they also live in the Mediterranean. The Red Sea is home to the snowflake moray, zebra moray, geometric moray, star moray, white-spotted moray, and elegant moray. The largest of them is the star moray eel, its average length reaches 180 cm.
The Mediterranean moray eel, which lives in the Mediterranean Sea, reaches 1.5 meters in length. It was her image that became the prototype for numerous legends and myths about these predatory fish with quite unusual appearance. For permanent residence, they choose clefts in rocks, shelters in underwater stone rubble, in general, places where they can reliably hide a large and completely unprotected body. It lives mainly in the bottom layer of seas.
The body color is camouflaged and matches the surrounding landscape. More often, moray eels are colored in dark brown or grayish tones with spots that form a kind of marble pattern on the body. There are also monochromatic and even white specimens. Since the mouth of moray eels is of considerable size, it inner surface colored to match the color of the body, so as not to unmask the moray eel when it opens its mouth wide. And the mouth of moray eels is almost always open. By pumping water through its open mouth into the gill openings, the moray eel increases the access of oxygen to the body.
The head bears small round eyes, which give the moray eel an even more evil appearance. Behind the eyes there are small gill openings, which usually have a dark spot. The anterior and posterior nasal openings of moray eels are located on the upper side of the snout - the first pair is represented by simple openings, while the second pair has the shape of tubes in some species, and leaves in others. If a moray eel “plugs” its nasal openings, it will not be able to find its prey. Interesting feature moray eel – absence of tongue. Their powerful jaws are seated with 23-28 sharp fang-shaped or awl-shaped teeth, curved back, which helps moray eels hold caught prey. Almost all moray eels have teeth arranged in one row. The exception is the Atlantic green moray eel, in which an additional row of teeth is located on the palatine bone.
Moray eels have long and extremely sharp teeth. In some species of moray eels, whose diet is dominated by armored animals - crustaceans, crabs, the teeth have a flattened shape. With such teeth it is easier to split and grind the durable protection of prey. Moray eels' teeth do not contain poison. The jaws of all moray eels are very powerful and large. Moray eels have no pectoral fins, and the rest - dorsal, anal and caudal - have fused into one, framing back bodies, train.
Moray eels can reach significant sizes. By different sources, their length can be 2.5 and even more than 3 meters (the world's largest giant moray eel is Thyrsoidea macrura). One and a half meter individuals weigh on average 8-10 kg. Interestingly, males are smaller and “slimmer” than females. Here's the strong sex!, with a weight of up to 40 kg. Among moray eels there are also small species, the length of which does not exceed ten centimeters. The average size Moray eels, the most commonly encountered by divers, are approximately one meter. As a rule, males are slightly smaller than females.
Moray eels reproduce using eggs. IN winter months they gather in shallow water, where fertilization of eggs laid by females occurs with the reproductive products of males. The eggs and moray eel larvae that hatch from them move in the water by sea currents and are carried throughout large area sea areas. Moray eels are predators, their diet consists of various bottom animals - crabs, crustaceans, cephalopods, especially octopuses, small sea fish and even sea urchins. They obtain food mainly at night. Lying in ambush, moray eels lie in wait for unwary prey, jumping out like an arrow if a potential victim appears within reach, and grabs it with their sharp teeth. During the day, moray eels sit in their homes - crevices of rocks and corals, among large stones and other natural shelters and rarely hunt. The sight of a moray eel dealing with its prey is quite unpleasant. She instantly tears her prey into small pieces with her long teeth and in a matter of moments only memories remain from the victim.
Moray eels can hunt not only from ambush. Favorite treat Most moray eels are octopuses. In pursuit of this sedentary animal, the moray eel drives it into a “corner” - some kind of shelter or crevice and, poking its head towards its soft body, tears off piece by piece from it, starting with the tentacles, until it tears it into small pieces and eats without a trace. Moray eels can swallow small prey whole, like snakes. When biting off a piece of the body from a large prey, the moray eel is often helped by its own tail, which, like a lever, increases the power of its jaws. Nosed moray eels use a unique method of hunting. These relatively small representatives of moray eels are named so for the outgrowths above their upper jaw. These nasal projections, oscillating in the flow of water, resemble sessile sea worms- polychaete. The sight of “prey” attracts small fish, which very quickly find themselves prey to a hidden predator.
In search of food, moray eels, like most nocturnal predators, rely on their sense of smell. Their vision is poorly developed, and even at night it is a poor assistant in searching for food. A moray eel can sense its prey from a considerable distance. The notoriety of fish dangerous to humans has been attached to moray eels since ancient times. IN Ancient Rome noble citizens often kept moray eels in pools, growing them for food - the meat of these fish was extremely valued because of their specific taste. Quickly assessing the ability of moray eels to be aggressive, noble Romans used them as a tool to punish offending slaves, and sometimes threw people into a tank with moray eels solely for the sake of entertainment. Indeed - oh, times!.. Oh, morals!.. Moray, before such torture or spectacles were carried out, was kept from hand to mouth. When a person found himself in the pool, they pounced on him and, hanging on the victim like bulldogs, shook their jaws, tearing out pieces of flesh.
About the danger of moray eels for people in natural environment habitat there are different opinions. Some researchers consider it a fairly peaceful animal, using its teeth solely for the sake of protection from too annoying divers, others consider the moray eel to be extremely dangerous sea creature. One way or another, there are many known cases of attacks and bites of people by moray eels. Here are some of them. In 1948, biologist I. Brock, who later became director of the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii, scuba dived near Johnston Island in Pacific Ocean at shallow depths. Before Brock was immersed in the water, a grenade was thrown - this was part of the research program that the biologist was engaged in. Noticing a large moray eel in the water and thinking that it had been killed by a grenade, Brock pierced it with a spear. However, the moray eel, which was 2.4 meters long, turned out to be far from dead: it rushed straight at the offender and grabbed his elbow. A moray eel, attacking a person, inflicts a wound that is similar to the bite mark of a barracuda. But unlike the barracuda, the moray eel does not immediately swim away, but hangs on its victim like a bulldog. Brock managed to rise to the surface and reach a boat waiting nearby. However, surgeons had to tinker with this wound for a long time, as it turned out to be very severe. The victim almost lost his arm.
The famous pop singer Dieter Bohlen (duet Modern Talking) also suffered from a moray eel. While diving in the area Seychelles The moray eel grabbed his leg, tearing the singer's skin and muscles. After this incident, D. Bolen underwent surgery and spent a whole month in wheelchair. Once, experts even had to relocate a pair of moray eels from a reef popular among tourists (Old cod hole, Great Barrier Reef, 1996). While feeding, the fish tore the hand of a New Zealand diver so badly that it was impossible to save him. Unfortunately, the moray eels died during transportation.
I think that the examples given will help novice divers assess the danger of encountering moray eels and take measures to prevent such cases. These measures are simple - you should not provoke the moray eel into aggressive actions. Very rarely (usually exhausted by hunger) moray eels attack people for no reason. Having seen a moray eel, you should not irritate this fish - approach its home, try to stroke it, and even more so - stick your hands into its shelter. Fans of spearfishing should not shoot into holes and crevices just to check whether there is a moray eel there. If she really lives there, she will certainly attack you. If you don't provoke her, she won't touch you.
There is no targeted fishing for moray eels. They are caught in single specimens for food consumption. It should be noted that the meat and some organs of moray eels are different time years may contain toxic substances causing severe stomach cramps and nerve lesions. Therefore, you should study this issue in more detail before trying the taste of moray eel meat.
Sometimes moray eels are kept in large aquariums. The behavior of these predators in a confined space may be different. Often moray eels show extreme aggressiveness towards their neighbors in the aquarium, sometimes they are completely indifferent to their roommates. In captivity, moray eels can live more than ten years. Moray eels, like everyone else predatory fish, are an important link in the ecological balance of the seas where they live. Therefore, their extermination negatively affects the health of the fauna of these regions.
In ancient times, therefore, moray eels were considered terrible monsters. Then they believed in huge sea monsters, capable of swallowing a ship whole. And this ability was attributed, in particular, to moray eels. Later in history, there were cases where they were trained to attack humans. But all this has never stopped people from hunting moray eels. It is eaten and considered a delicacy, although its meat can be very poisonous. The ancient Romans kept moray eels in special pens to prepare them for feasts. They were a terrible execution for slaves. This is such a strange food chain. IN Caribbean and now moray eel ceviche is popular - a dish that is prepared in a very exotic and rather brutal way.
Moray eels belong to the family Moray eels(lat. Muraenidae) are bottom-dwelling marine ray-finned fish of the eel order.
Moray eels are found throughout the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans in tropical and temperate latitudes. They live at the bottom among stones, in coral crevices, in caves and grottoes at depths of up to 50 meters. Some species, for example, Yellow-mouthed moray, can descend to a depth of 150-170 meters.
A powerful snake-like body, slightly flattened on the sides, without scales, allows these fish to easily and gracefully not only swim at the very bottom, but also penetrate and hide in crevices and holes between stones. The dorsal fin stretches along the entire body from the head itself, smoothly turning into the tail. In the huge mouth of moray eels there are two pairs of jaws with sharp fang-like teeth. The second pair of jaws is located deep in the throat and moves forward to grab prey and pull it into the esophagus. The body color can be either monochromatic or with many multi-colored spots and stripes.
Moray eels feed on fish, crabs, lobsters, cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, octopuses) - almost everything that moves. They are active mainly at night, although there are species with daytime activity. During the day they hide in their shelters, periodically changing position and sticking out only their massive head. Their constantly opening toothy mouth looks very menacing. In deserted places and at night, moray eels often visit shallow waters.
The size of these fish varies over a very wide range, the length of the smallest moray does not exceed 11.5 cm, this is the species Anarchias leucurus, which is not found in the Red Sea, and the largest is the giant moray, Gymnothorax javanicus, whose length reaches 3 meters, and the weight reaches 30 kg, this moray eel is very widespread in the Red Sea. But most major representative Moray eels are the species Strophidon sathete, the length of this fish reaches 4 meters.
Moray eels received their vicious reputation not entirely deservedly. Despite their creepy appearance, they do not attack first unless divers show increased attention to them by provoking, irritating or trying to hand-feed these predators. Hand-feeding moray eels is a very impressive sight, but always poses some danger, since the behavior of these fish is difficult to predict. Moray eels' vision is rather weak, but their sense of smell is well developed, and sudden aggressiveness can be associated with a physiological state, fear, illness, or damage received the day before. Despite the absence of poisonous teeth, moray eel bites are very painful and do not heal for a long time; when bitten, a moray eel hangs on the victim with a death grip, like a bull terrier, while shaking its jaw, causing lacerations with sharp teeth. It is usually not possible to free yourself; help is required.
Video shows a moray eel attacking divers:
In ancient Rome, moray eel meat was highly valued because of its specific taste. The Romans kept fish in special huge aquariums and artificial reservoirs. At present, moray eel fishing is not carried out, because Ciguatoxin is present in the skin of some species, especially those living in the Indo-Pacific basin.
Moray eels tolerate desalination well, so they often live in estuaries and often enter fresh water.
Eggs and larvae develop in the upper layers of water and are transported by currents over vast distances. The leptocephalic stage, a transparent larva 7-10 mm long, characteristic of all eel-like fish, lasts several months.
Many moray eels are hermaphrodites - most of them mature as males and later change sex. There are also synchronous hermaphrodites in which male and female males simultaneously develop. female organs reproduction.
Large moray eels live in one place throughout their entire life - about 10 years - and are well known to local guides.
The moray eel fish belongs to the class of ray-finned fish. All moray eels are united into a genus, which consists of 12 species. They live in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and are the original inhabitants of the Mediterranean and Red seas. These predatory fish live in coastal waters and are most often found near underwater rocks and on coral reefs. They like to relax in underwater caves and other natural shelters.
What is so special about these sea fish? In appearance they resemble eels. The body is long, the skin is smooth without scales and has a variety of color shades. She is mostly brown with large yellow spots, in which there are small dark spots. In most species, a long fin extends from the head along the back. All species lack pectoral and ventral fins.
The mouth is wide and the jaws are extremely strong. They are armed with sharp teeth, with the help of which they not only capture prey, but also inflict serious and sometimes very dangerous wounds. By their nature, moray eels are aggressive and therefore pose a danger to people. Fishermen are wary of them.
The bite of this marine predator is very painful. Having bitten, the fish can tightly cling to the bite site, and it is very difficult to unhook it. The consequences of such a bite are very unpleasant, since the mucus of the moray eel fish contains substances that are toxic to humans. The inflicted wound takes a very long time to heal, hurts, festeres and, accordingly, causes discomfort. There have even been recorded cases where the bite of this fish caused death.
The situation is further aggravated by the fact that representatives of the genus have an additional pharyngeal jaw in the pharynx. It is mobile and can move forward to help the main jaw hold prey. Therefore, it is understandable why it is extremely difficult to unhook a predator clinging to the skin. A bitten person unclenches the main jaws, but the fish still does not detach, since the pharyngeal jaw prevents this.
Representatives of the species grow up to one and a half meters in length, and the weight of individual individuals can be about 40 kg. But for the most part, these fish do not exceed 1 meter in length and weigh 15 kg. However, such modest indicators do not detract from their danger to people. Even a small moray eel fish can cause serious and deep wounds that will take a very long time to heal.
During the times of Ancient Rome, these fish were considered a delicacy. They were bred in special ponds and large aquariums. Served on major holidays. Moreover, it was mainly rich people who ate them, since the poor could not afford to raise moray eels. Sami sea predators eat small fish. It is their main diet. Number of this kind according to IUCN classification ( International Union nature protection) is of least concern.
I don’t think anyone is charmed by the appearance of a moray eel - despite the beautiful color of its body, the appearance of this fish is repulsive. The predatory look of small, prickly eyes, an unpleasant mouth with needle-like teeth, a snake-like body and the inhospitable character of moray eels are absolutely not conducive to friendly communication.
Let's try to get to know this interesting and unique fish better. Perhaps our attitude towards her will warm up, at least a little.
Moray eels (Muraena) belong to a genus of fish from the eel family (Muraenidae). About 200 species of moray eels live in the seas of the World Ocean. Most of them prefer the warm waters of tropical and subtropical zones. A frequent visitor to coral reefs and underwater rocks.
Quite often found in the Red Sea, they also live in the Mediterranean. The Red Sea is home to the snowflake moray, zebra moray, geometric moray, star moray, white-spotted moray, and elegant moray. The largest of them is the star moray eel, its average length reaches 180 cm.
The Mediterranean moray eel, which lives in the Mediterranean Sea, reaches 1.5 meters in length. It was her image that became the prototype for numerous legends and myths about these predatory fish with a rather unusual appearance.
For permanent residence, they choose clefts in rocks, shelters in underwater stone rubble, in general, places where they can reliably hide a large and completely unprotected body. It lives mainly in the bottom layer of seas.
A long, serpentine body, completely naked and devoid of scales, covered with mucus, which in some species is poisonous. The mucus helps the moray eel jump out of cover like an arrow when hunting, significantly reducing water resistance.
In addition, a body covered with a thick layer of mucus is easier to squeeze into narrow holes and crevices that moray eels use as shelter and homes.
The body color is camouflaged and matches the surrounding landscape. More often, moray eels are colored in dark brown or grayish tones with spots that form a kind of marble pattern on the body. There are also monochromatic and even white specimens.
Since the mouth of moray eels is of considerable size, its inner surface is colored to match the color of the body, so as not to unmask the moray eel when it opens its mouth wide. And the mouth of moray eels is almost always open. By pumping water through its open mouth into the gill openings, the moray eel increases the access of oxygen to the body.
The head bears small round eyes, which give the moray eel an even more evil appearance. Behind the eyes there are small gill openings, which usually have a dark spot.
The anterior and posterior nasal openings of moray eels are located on the upper side of the snout - the first pair is represented by simple openings, while the second pair has the shape of tubes in some species, and leaves in others. If a moray eel “plugs” its nasal openings, it will not be able to find its prey.
An interesting feature of moray eels is the absence of a tongue. Their powerful jaws are lined with 23-28 sharp fang-shaped or awl-shaped teeth, curved back, which helps moray eels hold caught prey.
Almost all moray eels have teeth arranged in one row. The exception is the Atlantic green moray eel, in which an additional row of teeth is located on the palatine bone.
Moray eels have long and extremely sharp teeth. In some species of moray eels, whose diet is dominated by armored animals - crustaceans, crabs, the teeth have a flattened shape. With such teeth it is easier to split and grind the durable protection of prey. Moray eels' teeth do not contain poison. The jaws of all moray eels are very powerful and large.
Moray eels have no pectoral fins, and the rest - the dorsal, anal and caudal fins - have fused into one train, framing the back of the body.
Moray eels can reach significant sizes. According to various sources, their length can be 2.5 or even more than 3 meters (the largest giant moray eel in the world is Thyrsoidea macrura). One and a half meter individuals weigh on average 8-10 kg. Interestingly, males are smaller and “slimmer” than females. Here's the strong sex!, with a weight of up to 40 kg. Among moray eels there are also small species, the length of which does not exceed ten centimeters. The average size of the moray eels most commonly encountered by divers is approximately one meter.
As a rule, males are slightly smaller than females.
Moray eels reproduce using eggs. In the winter months, they gather in shallow water, where the eggs laid by the females are fertilized with the reproductive products of the males. The eggs and moray eel larvae that hatch from them move in the water by sea currents and are carried over a large area of the sea.
Moray eels are predators; their diet consists of various bottom animals - crabs, crustaceans, cephalopods, especially octopuses, small sea urchins and even sea urchins.
They obtain food mainly at night. Lying in ambush, moray eels lie in wait for unwary prey, jumping out like an arrow if a potential victim appears within reach, and grabs it with its sharp teeth.
During the day, moray eels sit in their homes - crevices of rocks and corals, among large stones and other natural shelters and rarely hunt.
The sight of a moray eel dealing with its prey is quite unpleasant. She instantly tears her prey into small pieces with her long teeth and in a matter of moments only memories remain from the victim.
Moray eels can hunt not only from ambush. The favorite delicacy of most moray eels is octopus. In pursuit of this sedentary animal, the moray eel drives it into a “corner” - some kind of shelter or crevice and, poking its head towards its soft body, tears off piece by piece from it, starting with the tentacles, until it tears it into small pieces and eats without a trace.
Moray eels can swallow small prey whole, like snakes. When biting off a piece of the body from a large prey, the moray eel is often helped by its own tail, which, like a lever, increases the power of its jaws.
Nosed moray eels use a unique method of hunting. These relatively small representatives of moray eels are named so for the outgrowths above their upper jaw. These nasal projections, oscillating in the current of water, resemble sessile sea worms - polychaetes. The sight of “prey” attracts small fish, which very quickly find themselves prey to a hidden predator.
In search of food, moray eels, like most nocturnal predators, rely on their sense of smell. Their vision is poorly developed, and even at night it is a poor assistant in searching for food. A moray eel can sense its prey from a considerable distance.
The notoriety of fish dangerous to humans has been attached to moray eels since ancient times.
In ancient Rome, noble citizens often kept moray eels in pools, growing them for food - the meat of these fish was extremely valued due to their specific taste. Quickly assessing the ability of moray eels to be aggressive, noble Romans used them as a tool to punish offending slaves, and sometimes threw people into a tank with moray eels solely for the sake of entertainment.
Indeed - oh, times!.. Oh, morals!..
Moray eels, before such torture or spectacles were carried out, were kept from hand to mouth. When a person found himself in the pool, they pounced on him and, hanging on the victim like bulldogs, shook their jaws, tearing out pieces of flesh.
There are different opinions about the danger of moray eels to people in their natural habitat. Some researchers consider it to be a fairly peaceful animal, using its teeth solely for the sake of protection from too annoying divers, while others consider the moray eel to be an extremely dangerous sea creature. One way or another, there are many known cases of attacks and bites of people by moray eels.
Here are some of them.
In 1948, biologist I. Brock, who later became director of the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii, was scuba diving near Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean at shallow depths. Before Brock was immersed in the water, a grenade was thrown - this was part of the research program that the biologist was engaged in. Noticing a large moray eel in the water and thinking that it had been killed by a grenade, Brock pierced it with a spear. However, the moray eel, which was 2.4 meters long, turned out to be far from dead: it rushed straight at the offender and grabbed his elbow. A moray eel, attacking a person, inflicts a wound that is similar to the bite mark of a barracuda. But unlike the barracuda, the moray eel does not immediately swim away, but hangs on its victim like a bulldog. Brock managed to rise to the surface and reach a boat waiting nearby. However, surgeons had to tinker with this wound for a long time, as it turned out to be very severe. The victim almost lost his arm.
The famous pop singer Dieter Bohlen (duet Modern Talking) also suffered from a moray eel.
While diving near the Seychelles, a moray eel grabbed his leg, tearing the singer’s skin and muscles. After this incident, D. Bolen underwent surgery and spent a whole month in a wheelchair.
Once, experts even had to relocate a pair of moray eels from a reef popular among tourists (Old cod hole, Great Barrier Reef, 1996). While feeding, the fish tore the hand of a New Zealand diver so badly that it was impossible to save him.
Unfortunately, the moray eels died during transportation.
I think that the examples given will help novice divers assess the danger of encountering moray eels and take measures to prevent such cases.
These measures are simple - you should not provoke the moray eel into aggressive actions. Very rarely (usually exhausted by hunger) moray eels attack people for no reason.
Having seen a moray eel, you should not irritate this fish - approach its home, try to stroke it, and even more so - stick your hands into its shelter. Fans of spearfishing should not shoot into holes and crevices just to check whether there is a moray eel there. If she really lives there, she will certainly attack you. If you don't provoke her, she won't touch you.
There is no targeted fishing for moray eels. They are caught in single specimens for food consumption.
It should be noted that the meat and some organs of moray eels at different times of the year may contain toxic substances that cause severe stomach cramps and nerve damage. Therefore, you should study this issue in more detail before trying the taste of moray eel meat.
Sometimes moray eels are kept in large aquariums. The behavior of these predators in a confined space may be different. Often moray eels show extreme aggressiveness towards their neighbors in the aquarium, sometimes they are completely indifferent to their roommates. In captivity, moray eels can live more than ten years.
Moray eels, like all predatory fish, are an important part of the ecological balance of the seas where they live. Therefore, their extermination negatively affects the health of the fauna of these regions.
In ancient times, therefore, moray eels were considered terrible monsters. Back then they believed in huge sea monsters capable of swallowing a whole ship. And this ability was attributed, in particular, to moray eels. Later in history, there were cases where they were trained to attack humans.
But all this has never stopped people from hunting moray eels. It is eaten and considered a delicacy, although its meat can be very poisonous. The ancient Romans kept moray eels in special pens to prepare them for feasts. They were a terrible execution for slaves. This is such a strange food chain. In the Caribbean, moray eel ceviche is still popular - a dish that is prepared in a very exotic and rather brutal way.
Moray eels are a genus of fish from the moray eel family of the eel order. Representatives of moray eels are often found in the Mediterranean and Red Seas. They also live in the waters of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
Moray eels are predatory fish shaped like snakes. Their appearance is quite disgusting and frightening: a huge mouth, cold small eyes. Although some species have quite bright and attractive colors. For example, here is a photo of a long-nosed moray eel that lives in coral reefs.
Moray eels can be described as follows: the body is strong, serpentine, the gill openings are small and round. In the photo below there is a green moray eel and a small circle of its gill opening is clearly visible.
Continuing the description appearance moray it is necessary to indicate that pectoral fins They dont have. The remaining fins (dorsal, caudal and anal) are fused and form a single fin fold.
Moray eels' eyes are small and round. The mouth is large, its edges reach eye level; the teeth are awned, and in some species they are quite large.
The saber-toothed moray eel is the toothiest species of moray eel.
In total, about 120 species of moray eels have been discovered in the World Ocean. They like warm waters, are permanent inhabitants of coral reefs and underwater rocks, that is, they are lovers of such types of bottom surface, which are replete with various shelters.
There are two genera of moray eels living in the Red Sea: Echidna and Gymnothorax. The genus Echidna includes the snowflake moray eel and the zebra moray eel; to the genus Gymnothorax are the geometric moray eel, the star moray eel, the white-spotted moray eel and the elegant moray eel. The largest of these species is the star moray; its representatives can reach 180 cm in length.
The Mediterranean moray eel is found in the Mediterranean Sea; its length reaches up to one and a half meters.
It was the Mediterranean moray eel that was the prototype of sea monsters in the legends of antiquity.
The body color of moray eels is camouflage. Its tones and shades depend on the palette environment. The main task of the predator is to merge with the terrain so that the inattentive prey comes within attacking distance. It is worth noting that even inner side Moray eels have a camouflage color that can graze, but with such a huge mouth this is not surprising.
The color of the mucus can noticeably distort the skin color of the moray eel.
Moray eels prefer to hunt at night. To do this, they do not leave their hiding places, but wait for prey. When hunting, moray eels rely on their sense of smell; their vision is poorly developed. Moray eels are nearsighted, but vision is not so important for nocturnal predators.
To catch the “smell” of prey in the water, the moray eel opens its mouth wide and swims, letting streams of water pass through it.
The following experiment was carried out with moray eels: they were thrown food, some pieces of which were coated with paraffin, which prevented the spread of odors. Moray eels did not eat such pieces of food; even if they fell into the fish’s mouth, it spat them out. But as soon as the paraffin layer was destroyed by contact with moray eels’ teeth or stones, a smell appeared, and moray eels immediately ate this food.
Moray eels almost always have an open mouth. Since moray eels do not have gill covers, for constant access new water to the gills, the moray eel constantly opens and closes its mouth.
Moray eels have two pairs of nasal openings: anterior and posterior. They are located on the upper side of the fish's snout. The front pair are ordinary holes, and the rear pair can take the form of tubes or leaves, different for different species.
The sense of smell is the moray eel’s main hunting tool; if its nose is “plugged”, it will not be able to hunt.
Moray eels have no tongue.
The powerful jaws of moray eels are “armed” with 24-28 sharp teeth. The teeth can be fang-shaped or awl-shaped, curved back. This structure of the teeth helps the moray eel to retain caught prey.
All moray eel species, with one exception, have teeth arranged in one row. An exception is the Atlantic green moray eel, this species has an additional row of teeth on the palatine bone.
Moray eels' teeth are powerful and sharp. There are species of moray eels whose diet mainly consists of crabs and other armored animals. The teeth of such species have a flattened shape, allowing them to split and grind the durable shells of their prey.
The average size of moray eels encountered by divers is about one meter.
Male moray eels are usually smaller in size than females, but not by much.
Moray eels reproduce by caviar; it is worth noting that there are viviparous fish. To reproduce in winter, moray eels gather in shallow water, females lay eggs and males fertilize them. The eggs are carried over long distances by the current.
Moray eels do not reproduce in captivity. But there was one exception - in January 2014, at the Vienna Zoo, a female ribbon moray eel laid fertilized eggs. These eggs turned out to be viable and some of them hatched.
Unfortunately, there is no information about what moray eel larvae eat and what conditions they need. Zoo Aquarium workers were unable to provide everything necessary for the survival of newborn moray eels. The little moray eels only lived for a week.
The size of the larvae barely reached a centimeter, but they resembled sea monsters with huge sharp teeth.
Being a nocturnal predator, during the day the moray eel hides in its shelter and is not active.
The moray eel's hunting method is cruel. She tries to tear her victim into pieces and does it very quickly.
Moray eels love to eat octopuses. They drive the mollusk into a corner, although the sedentary octopuses themselves try to hide from the predator in a shelter. But the trapped octopus has no chance. Moray eel is flexible like a snake and can stick its head into any crack. She systematically tears pieces of flesh from the soft mollusk until she eats the prey without a trace.
When biting off a piece from the victim's body, the moray eel often uses its muscular tail as a lever. This technique significantly increases the strength and power of her jaws.
Long-nosed moray eels - not close-up view moray eels They hunt very in an interesting way. There are projections above their upper jaw, from which they got their name.
These nasal outgrowths oscillate in the water flow and remind the fish of their food - polychaete marine worms. Such false “prey” attracts small fish, which become food for long-nosed moray eels.
Moray eel meat has a specific taste. In Ancient Rome it was valued and rich citizens used to keep moray eels in special pools, growing them for food.
The aggressiveness of moray eels has also found its application. There was such a punishment for guilty slaves - to be thrown into the pool to be eaten by moray eels. The moray eels were not fed beforehand and were teased. When a person found himself in the pool, hungry and aggressive predators pounced on him, grabbed him with their jaws with sharp teeth and tried to tear out pieces of flesh.
But well-fed moray eels are not so aggressive. Here's a video from the Winnipeg Aquarium below. The green moray eel behaves with the diver like an affectionate kitten.
In the history of cases of moray eel attacks on people, quite a lot is known. There are completely different opinions about the danger of moray eels to people.
Someone thinks moray eels dangerous representatives underwater life and advises avoiding encounters with them. Some argue that moray eels pose a danger only when defending themselves from unexpected guests.
In any case, if a diver finds a moray eel, then you should not disturb its peace. You shouldn’t try to pet her, much less stick your hand into her hiding place. Such a “feat” can cost your health.
Back in 1948, biologist and researcher I. Brock, who soon became director of the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii, conducted underwater research with scuba gear near Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean. The research was carried out at shallow depths, first a grenade was thrown into the water, then Brock sank to the bottom. During one of the dives, Brock noticed a large moray eel in the water. Thinking that she had been killed by the explosion, Brock pierced her with a spear. But the moray eel rushed at the offender and grabbed his elbow, and the length of the predator was more than two meters. The moray eels do not let go of their prey until they tear out a piece of flesh, but Brock managed to get to the surface and climb back onto the boat. The wound turned out to be severe and surgeons fought for a long time to save the hand.
The famous singer Dieter Bohlen (duet Modern Talking) also suffered from a moray eel attack. During an underwater dive in the Seychelles area, a moray eel grabbed the singer’s leg, severely damaging not only the skin, but also the muscles. After the incident, Dieter Bohlen underwent surgery and was subsequently confined to a wheelchair for a month.
In 1996, specialists caught two large moray eels for relocation on the Great Barrier Reef, popular among tourists. The cause was a moray eel attack on a diver from New Zealand, they damaged his arm so badly that he died from loss of blood. Both moray eels died during transportation.
You should not provoke moray eels. Remember in wildlife everyone eats everyone, and attempts to pet or touch a moray eel will be regarded as an attempt to attack. The fish will defend itself, and it knows how to do this.
If the moray eel is not provoked, it does not attack. Cases of unmotivated aggression on the part of moray eels are very rare; perhaps such moray eels were simply tortured by hunger.
There is no commercial fishing for moray eels. For food consumption, they are caught in single specimens.
For culinary specialists, you need to know that some organs of moray eels may contain poisons that cause severe stomach cramps. This issue needs to be studied separately before attempting to prepare dishes from moray eels.
Photo: Green moray eel at the Texas State Aquarium.
Like other predators, moray eels are an important link in biological systems, helping to maintain ecological balance. The extermination of moray eels will lead to catastrophic changes in the biosystems in which they live.
In distant ancient times, legends circulated among people about huge sea monsters, capable of swallowing ships whole. This role was also attributed to moray eels. Moray eels were also trained to attack people. But all this has never stopped people from eating moray eels.
Watch a film about moray eels from National Geographic:
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