![]() ![]() Small eyes, a constantly open mouth, sharp curved teeth, a serpentine body without scales - this is a typical moray eel from the moray family, included in the genus of ray-finned fish. Like all eels, the moray eel swims and crawls like a true snake, noticeably bending its body. This huge scary fish is very reminiscent of a snake, and not only with the outlines of an elongated body. Large moray eels throughout their life - about 10 years, live in one place and are well known to local guides. There are also synchronous hermaphrodites, which simultaneously develop male and female organs breeding. Many moray eels are hermaphrodites - most of them first mature as males, and subsequently change sex. The stage of leptocephalus, a transparent larva 7-10 mm long, characteristic of all eel-like fish, lasts several months. Moray eels tolerate desalination well, therefore they often live in estuaries and often enter fresh water.Įggs and larvae develop in the upper layers of water and are carried by the current over great distances. ciguatoxin is present in the skin of some species, especially those found in the Indo-Pacific. Currently, moray eels are not fished, because. The Romans kept fish in special huge aquariums and artificial reservoirs. V Ancient Rome moray eel meat was highly valued because of its specific taste. On the video - a moray eel attack on divers: It is usually not possible to free yourself, you need help. Despite the absence of poisonous teeth, moray eel bites are very painful and do not heal for a long time when bitten, the moray eel hangs on the victim with a stranglehold, like a bull terrier, while shaking its jaw, inflicting lacerated wounds with sharp teeth. The eyesight of moray eels is rather weak, but the sense of smell is well developed, and sudden aggressiveness can be associated with a physiological state, fear, illness, or damage received the day before. Feeding moray eels from the hands is a very impressive sight, but always presents a certain danger, since the behavior of these fish is difficult to predict. Despite their creepy appearance, they do not attack first, unless divers show increased attention to them, provoking, annoying or trying to hand-feed these predators. Moray eels received their vicious reputation not quite deservedly. But the largest representative of moray eels is the species Strophidon sathete, the length of this fish reaches 4 meters. The size of these fish varies in a very wide range, the length of the smallest moray eel 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 eel, Gymnothorax javanicus, whose length reaches 3 meters, and the weight reaches 30 kg, this moray eel is very widespread in the Red Sea. In deserted places and at night, moray eels often visit shallow waters. Their constantly opening toothy mouth looks very menacing. During the day they hide in their shelters, periodically changing position and exposing only their massive head. They are active mainly at night, although there are species with daytime activity. Moray eels feed on fish, crabs, lobsters, cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, octopuses) - almost everything that moves. The color of the body can be either monophonic or with many multi-colored spots and stripes. ![]() The second pair of jaws is located deep in the pharynx and moves forward to grab the prey and pull it into the esophagus. In the huge mouth of moray eels there are two pairs of jaws with sharp canine teeth. The dorsal fin stretches along the entire body from the head itself, smoothly passing into the tail. Some species, for example, Yellow-mouthed moray, can descend to a depth of 150-170 meters.Ī powerful serpentine body, slightly flattened from the sides, without scales allows these fish to easily and gracefully not only swim near the bottom, but also penetrate and hide in crevices and burrows between stones. They live at the bottom among stones, in coral crevices, in caves and grottoes at depths of up to 50 meters. Moray eels are found everywhere in the basins of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans in tropical and temperate latitudes. Muraenidae) are bottom marine ray-finned fish of the eel order. Moray eels belong to the family Moray(lat. ![]()
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