Moray: toothy, predatory and poisonous. Moray fish. Moray eel lifestyle and habitat What does a serpentine moray fish look like

Moray eels are undoubtedly very graceful animals, but few people know that these fish are able to effectively hunt with other types of fish like sea bass, but they also pose a certain danger to humans, especially to unwary divers.

Moray eels are eels from the moray family (lat. Muraenidae). There are approximately 200 species and all of them are almost exclusively marine animals, but a few species are regularly found in brackish water and some, like the freshwater moray eel (lat. Gymnothorax polyuranodon), can sometimes be found in fresh water. With a maximum length of 11.5 cm (4.5 in), the smallest moray eel is most likely the Snyder moray eel (lat. Anarchias leucurus), while the longest species, like the slender giant moray eel (lat. Strophidon sathete), grow up to 4 meters (13 feet) long. The largest in terms of weight is the giant moray eel (lat. Gymnothorax javanicus), which reaches almost 3 meters (9.8 ft) in length and can weigh over 36 kg (79 lb).

Moray eels are often mistaken for vicious and grumpy animals. They have to constantly open and close their mouths to keep water circulating through their gills, allowing them to breathe. Apparently, we perceive the opening of the mouth as aggressive behavior, but this is how they just breathe! In truth, moray eels hide from people in cracks and crevices, they prefer to run away than attack. Moray eels are shy and secretive, and only attack humans in self-defense or misidentification. Most attacks occur from approaching the moray eel's lair, but also attacks occur while hand-feeding moray eels by divers, a practice often used by diving companies to attract tourists.

Moray eels have poor eyesight and rely mainly on their keen sense of smell, which is why it is difficult for them to find the boundary between their fingers and food held by the hand. Many divers have lost their fingers while trying to feed moray eels. For this reason, hand feeding of moray eels is prohibited in some places, including the Great Barrier Reef (Australia). Moray eels have a special way of capturing prey, but this is a very strong mechanism due to which the eel will not let go of the prey, even if it is threatened with death and therefore it is necessary to open its jaws manually. While most are not considered poisonous, circumstantial evidence suggests that some species may be.

Video. Interesting about moray eels

Eels that eat certain types of toxic algae, or more often fish that have eaten some of these algae, can lead to sigwater (fish poisoning). During the day, moray eels rest in crevices and hunt at night, although they may chase small fish and crustaceans that swim by during the day.

Moray eels are found in tropical and temperate seas, although a wide variety can be found on reefs in warm oceans. Very few species are found outside the tropics and subtropics, and those that briefly venture outside these regions. They live at depths up to several hundred meters, where they spend most of their time hiding inside crevices and burrows. While a few species are regularly found in brackish water, very few species can be found in fresh water, such as the freshwater moray (lat. Gymnothorax polyuranodon) and pink-lipped moray (lat. Echidna rhodochilus).

Despite the serpentine appearance, the moray eel is a fish, not a reptile or amphibian. Adult moray eels lack pectoral and pelvic fins, but have long fins that extend from the back of the head to the tail and along the entire belly. Although it may seem that this is one fin, there are actually three of them: an elongated dorsal, caudal and anal fin. Moray eels move like swimming snakes, thanks to their undulating movements, they are able to cut through the water very quickly.

A photo. The second jaws of moray eels

Moray eels are piscivorous, which means that they eat other fish (even small moray eels). Like some other fish-eating fish, moray eels have two jaws. They have regular jaws in their mouths, called oral jaws, and a second jaw in their throat, called pharyngeal jaws. Unlike other fish with jaws, the second jaws of moray eels are very mobile. After the moray eel bites the food, the second jaw moves forward to grab the food inside the mouth and drag it down the throat to swallow it completely.

Thus, the caught fish has practically no chance of salvation. Interestingly, while the existence of second jaws has been known for quite some time, the mechanism of swallowing food by moray eels was only fully elucidated only in 2007.

Divers who closely observed the moray eel may not have noticed that it has smooth skin. The skin cells of the moray eel secrete a protective mucous coating that protects them from infection and contact. Never touch the moray eel, as this can harm its delicate protection.

The covering of moray eels also serves other purposes. When buried in sand, they restore their defenses by sticking grains of sand. In some species, the coating also affects their color. Green moray eels look brown without their mucus, but the yellow color of their mucosa, when combined with skin color, results in a brilliant shade of green.

Moray eels can hunt alone or in groups. When moray eels hunt in groups, they do not associate with other moray eels, but do so with fish of other species. This type of hunting is known as "nuclear hunting" and is seen in some other fish species such as flutefish and groupers (lat. Plectropomus pessuliferus). The book Reef Fish Behavior by Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach details the nuclear hunting behavior of moray eels:

A photo. Joint hunting of moray eels and sea bass

Video. Grouper and moray hunt together

“The moray almost always waits for the sea bass to position itself next to its body before making a dash. In either case, the fish makes contact with the moray eel by shaking its head in front of its head. It looks like the two animals are cooperating on the next coral hunt together, the sea bass can close the escape route while the moray eel is invading the dark curtain.” One way or another, one of the animals gets food.

A photo. Shrimps clean the mouth of the moray eel

Known attacks of moray eels on people

Moray bit off diver's thumb
This happened in 2005 in the Similan Islands in Thailand. Matt Boucher, dive instructor worked aboard the Liveaboard MV Queen Scuba Similans as an underwater videographer. He had already made five or six dives among the moray eels. A year or two ago, he first saw how these fish are fed. Matt regularly fed moray eels when he dived. He wanted to get high-quality pictures of moray eels during his dive. Clients loved it when they watched the videos in the evenings, especially when the moray eels took their food straight from Matt's hands. Matt tended to take the sausages, mostly because they were left over after breakfast and didn't disintegrate underwater. Unfortunately, to Matt, the sausages looked like fingers.

The next day, Matt went swimming with his girlfriend Becks, who worked as a dive instructor on the boat. It was like any other day, but the level of anxiety was high as they knew they were going to see the giant moray again. The first part of the dive was not interesting, and Matt and Becks hurried to the coral. Visibility was about twenty meters, Matt and Becks saw a floating moray eel. It is normal for moray eels to emerge from crevices and explore any divers that come close to her coral lair. Matt fed the moray several times, she returned to the coral and hid in it, only the protruding head remained. In order to persuade her to swim again, Matt decided to feed her from his bag where there was food. He gave the camera to Becks and signaled to her to film him feeding the moray eel. This was the first time Bex had ever held a camera underwater. Matt got confused several times when he took food out of a plastic bag, because due to the movements of the water it was difficult for him to find an opening to pull out a sausage from there. Murena noticed that a bag of food had appeared and swam very close to Matt, concentrating on finding the open end of the bag. Moray smelled food and was impatient.

A photo. lurking moray eel

A photo. Moray eyeing

Initially, Matt simply felt some pressure on his left thumb and tried to pull his hand out. That's when the moray eel stopped all the efforts of the man and better grabbed the thumb. All this happened very quickly. Matt knew he should take his thumb out of her mouth, but he wasn't prepared for what happened next. He looked at the moray eel attached to his arm as the blood began to create a blood cloud around him. He stuck two fingers of his right hand into her mouth and tried to open her jaw to get his thumb out. She bit again and more blood came out into the ocean. Murena was not going to let go.

The moray floated away and everything seemed calm... Matt looked down at his hand to see the torn flesh and thumb bone. The thumb is gone. Matt glanced back towards the moray eel to see it swallow his thumb and return to its coral. Becks was wide-eyed and motionless. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She was just filming one of her best friends who had her thumb bitten off by a giant moray eel before her eyes.

Matt didn't panic and made a slow and controlled climb to the surface. At this moment, Claude from the yacht Queen Scuba, sailed past him with a group of divers. Matt showed Claude his hand and pointed out that he had a problem. Claude smiled and continued his dive, believing that Matt was joking. When Matt rose to the surface, the water began to turn red. There was a lot of blood. But the surface of the blood sprayed 50 cm into the air. It was like a fountain, as the tiny arteries were completely severed and opened. Matt yelled loudly at the boat to get him. The boat driver was horrified when he saw the extent of Matt's injury and blood in the water. A compress was applied to the boat and the bleeding was largely stopped. After a quick stop on one of the islands, Matt was sent to the mainland on a motorboat with Becks. A taxi was waiting at the pier to take them to a Bangkok hospital, and after a couple of hours of driving, Matt's arm was quickly operated on to close the wound.

Matt spent a week in the hospital and accumulated a fantastic bill. In addition, they paid for the evacuation from the Similan Islands. The total bill was about half a million baht (about 14 thousand dollars).

Video. Moray bit off diver's finger

He was offered the amputation of one of his toes and transplanted to his hand to replace the missing toe. It was necessary to connect all the nerves, tendons and blood vessels, and, in fact, it would be like a new thumb. It took five months. The operation was expensive.

Matt turned to Divers Alert Network (DAN Europe) for insurance. A few days later they gave the go-ahead for the operation. They agreed to cover all expenses, which cost about 600,000 baht ($16,500).

A month after the operation, the transplant took root and Matt returned to diving. It is worth noting that Matt no longer harbors hatred for moray eels or any other marine life. He still sometimes dives in the same place and always keeps an eye on his old friend. He knows it was his stupid mistake and that he shouldn't have fed her. It was a painful way to learn a lesson...

Irish diver attacked by conger eel
year 2013. Jimmy Griffin, 48, a scuba diver from Galway, said of the Killary attack: “Suddenly I got hit in the face really hard. I felt like a rag doll. He grabbed my face and started shaking violently. It bit, pulled, and spun around my face. I got a terrible feeling of numbness in the right side of my face. My regulator fell out and my vision got really blurry from the blood in the water. The blood looked like octopus ink, very dark.”

A photo. Sea eel

A photo. Eel bite wound

A photo. Stitches on a man's face after he was bitten by a conger eel

Galway Bakery Owner Jimmy had made over 200 dives and knew he had to stay calm in the situation. “I shouldn’t have panicked 25 meters underwater. My regulator (breathing apparatus) was knocked out of my mouth, so panic could have led to my drowning. When he finally let go, I saw that it was a sea eel larger than myself, over six feet long,” Jimmy recalled.

The good news for Griffin was that the plastic surgeons did a fantastic job. "I don't even know how many stitches I've had inside and outside my mouth, but they say the scar will eventually be invisible," he said. He received 20 stitches in his face.

Surfer attacked by moray eel in Hawaii
On October 17, 2015, a 33-year-old local man was surfing on Waikiki Beach when he felt pain in his left leg. He made it to the shore, where passers-by used a towel to stop the bleeding, after medical workers arrived. Although a spokesman for the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said he had never heard of moray eel attacks in the state, officials found no sign of a shark attack and believe the person's injuries sound like a moray eel bite, not a shark.

Although moray eels often visit coral reefs in Hawaii, officials have not come to a concrete conclusion. At the same time, experts do not exclude other options, noting that recently barracudas have also been seen near Waikiki. Hours before the attack, another person was injured, although officials suspect that in this case a tiger shark may have been responsible for the attack. Witnesses reported that a 44-year-old man was swimming with a friend 50-100 meters from the shore when he was bitten. "Both legs just above the ankle just hung," said one passerby. The man was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Documentary film of 2010 Moray eels. Alien Empire"

Moray eel attacked a scuba diver when he interfered with the mating ritual
Underwater Polish photographer Bartosz Lukasik was attacked by a large moray eel while diving on a coral reef in South Africa in February 2018. He captured on camera the moment he was chased into Sodwana Bay by a devastated fish.

He was filming two eels when one of them suddenly turned and chased him for almost 15 meters. He believes that the moray eels attacked him because he interrupted the ritual of courtship and mating with his appearance, which undoubtedly angered one of the moray eels.

“Fortunately no one was hurt in this situation. I quickly swam away, the eel pursued me for about 10-15 meters, but in the end, everything was fine. Of course, I did not expect such a situation and did not want to provoke him. I take great care not to interfere with marine life when I'm filming and always try to keep enough distance so that both I and the subject feel comfortable,” commented Lukasik.

Video. Moray eel attacked a diver

However, he was suspected of trying to promote another older entry from 2015, these entries are completely identical. However, the video shows the very moment of the attack on the operator.

Moray eels are large serpentine fish known for their venom and aggressive nature. In fact, many facts about moray eels are greatly exaggerated. Almost 200 species of moray eels are united in the moray family. These fish are the closest relatives of other serpentine fish - eels.

Black-dotted moray eel (Gymnothorax fimbriatus).

All types of moray eels are large: the smallest ones reach a length of 60 cm and weigh 8-10 kg, and the world's largest giant moray eel (Thyrsoidea macrura) reaches a length of 3.75 m and weighs up to 40 kg! The body of moray eels is disproportionately long, slightly flattened laterally, but not completely flat. The back of the body looks thinner, and the middle and front parts of the body are slightly thickened, from which the moray eel resembles a giant leech. These fish have no pectoral fins at all, but the dorsal fin stretches along the entire length of the body. However, few people manage to see the moray eel in all its glory, in most cases its body is hidden in the crevices of the rocks, and only the head sticks out.

Mediterranean moray eels (Muraena helena) resemble giant leeches.

It is she, like no other part of the body, that makes the moray eel look like a snake. The muzzle of the moray eel is elongated with an evil expression of the eyes, the mouth is almost always open, and large sharp teeth can be seen in it. This impartial portrait served as a reason to reproach the moray eels with snake cunning and aggression. In fact, the expression of the moray eel's eyes is not so much angry as frozen, because these fish are ambush fish that spend a lot of time waiting for prey. The opinion that the moray eel cannot close its mouth due to too large teeth is also untenable. In fact, moray eels often sit with their mouths open, because they breathe through it, because in tight shelters the flow of water to the gills is difficult. Because of this, the mouth cavity of moray eels is painted, so the open mouth is not visible against the background of a motley reef. The moray eel has few teeth (23-28), they sit in one row and are bent slightly back, in species specializing in catching crustaceans, the teeth are less sharp, this allows the moray eel to crush the shells of crabs.

Another unusual feature of moray eels is the absence of a tongue and two pairs of nostrils. Like all fish, moray eels use their nostrils not for breathing, but only for smelling. The nostrils of moray eels are elongated into short tubes. Their body is covered with thick smooth skin without scales. The color of these fish is variegated, most often with a finely speckled pattern (less often striped, monophonic), but the colors are usually nondescript - brown, black, whitish-gray. However, there are exceptions. So, the ribbon rhinomurena at a young age (up to 65 cm long) is black, having matured, it becomes a bright blue male (while its length reaches 65-70 cm), and then adult males turn into yellow females (with a length of more than 70 cm) .

Young ribbon rhinomuraena (Rhinomuraena quaesita).

Moray eels are marine inhabitants. They are found only in salty warm waters. Moray eels reached the highest species diversity in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, they are also found in the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic and some parts of the Pacific Oceans. These fish are found mainly at shallow depths: in coral reefs and rocky shallow waters, the maximum habitat depth is up to 40 m, some species can crawl on land during low tide. In this, moray eels are very similar to their eel relatives. Moray eels keep most of their lives in shelters: crevices of underwater rocks, internal cavities of large sponges, between coral thickets. These fish are active mainly at dusk, so they see poorly, but they compensate for this shortcoming with an excellent sense of smell. With sealed nasal openings, moray eels are unable to detect prey.

Males of the ribbon rhinomurena. This species has leaf-like outgrowths instead of the usual nasal tubes for moray eels.

Moray eels live alone and adhere to permanent sites. In rare cases, when there are several convenient cracks nearby, moray eels can live side by side with each other, but this is a casual neighborhood, not friendship. The temper of the moray eel is an incredible mixture of rage and meekness. According to some divers, moray eels show friendliness and calmness and allow themselves to be touched. There are cases when moray eels during underwater filming got used to scuba divers so much that they swam with them and allowed themselves to be pulled out of the water. Ancient history claims that the Roman Crassus had a tame moray eel that sailed to the call. This allows us to talk about some semblance of intelligence in these fish. However, it opens only to subtle and tactful observers.

The yellow female of the ribbon rhinomurena is the final stage of color transformation.

In cases where moray eels are treated roughly, they react very harshly. A frightened and disturbed moray eel instantly attacks and can bite very hard. Moray eel bites are not only very painful, but also heal extremely poorly (up to several months), and deaths are also known. For this reason, poisonousness was previously attributed to moray eels (it was believed that the poison was in the teeth, like snakes), but studies did not reveal any poisonous glands in these fish. It is likely that the toxicity of their saliva may be due to pathogenic bacteria that multiply in the mouth among food debris and cause infection of the wound. Moray eels caught on a hook defend themselves to the last. At first, she tries to hide in her shelter and pulls back with great force, and when she is stretched out on land, she snaps her teeth furiously, beats, wriggles, tries to crawl away. This behavior was the reason for the greatly exaggerated opinion about the aggressiveness of these fish.

All types of moray eels are predators. They feed on fish, crabs, sea urchins, octopuses, cuttlefish. The moray eel lures its prey in ambush, attracting it with its swirling nasal tubes. These tubes resemble marine polychaete worms, many fish peck at this bait. As soon as the victim approaches a sufficient distance, the moray eel throws the front of the body forward with a lightning throw and grabs the victim. The narrow mouth of the moray eel is not suitable for swallowing large prey as a whole, so these fish have developed a special tactic for cutting prey. To do this, moray eels use ... a tail. Having wrapped its tail around some stone, the moray eel is literally tied into a knot, with muscle contractions it drives this knot to the head, while the pressure in the jaw muscles increases many times and the fish pulls out a piece of meat from the body of the victim. This method is also suitable for catching a strong prey (for example, an octopus).

The moray eel allows the cleaner shrimp to examine its mouth.

The reproduction of moray eels, like eels, is very poorly understood. Some species have separate sexes, while others change sex sequentially - from male to female (for example, the ribbon rhinomurena). Moray eel larvae are called leptocephals, as are eel larvae. Leptocephalic moray eels have a rounded head and a rounded caudal fin, their body is completely transparent, and the length at birth barely reaches 7-10 mm. It is extremely difficult to see such a larva in the water; besides, leptocetals swim freely and are carried by currents over rather long distances. Thus, the spread of sedentary moray eels occurs. The drift period lasts 6-10 months, during which time the leptocephalus grows up and begins to lead a sedentary lifestyle. Moray eels reach sexual maturity by 4-6 years. The life expectancy of these fish has not been precisely established, but it is long. It is reliably known that most species can live for more than 10 years.

Spawning is that rare case when moray eels form clusters of several individuals.

Moray eels have practically no enemy. Firstly, they are protected by natural shelters in which these fish spend most of their lives. Secondly, with a large and strong fish, armed with sharp teeth, not everyone wants to fight. If during free swimming (and this happens infrequently), the moray eel is pursued by another fish, then it tries to hide in the nearest crevice. Some species can escape from a pursuer by crawling to a safe distance on land.

A moray eel has a complex relationship with a person. On the one hand, people have always feared these predators and avoided close contact with them in the natural environment. On the other hand, moray eel meat has long been famous for its excellent taste. Famous gourmets of the ancient Romans valued the meat of the Mediterranean moray eel along with the meat of its freshwater and small relative - eel. Moray eels were served at feasts as a delicacy and in large quantities. Therefore, despite the fear, people have been catching moray eels for a long time, and the Romans even learned to breed them in cages. Now the experience of breeding moray eels in captivity has been lost and these fish are not grown artificially, especially since cases of poisoning by moray eels are known in tropical regions. Poisoning is caused by toxins that accumulate in meat when moray eels eat poisonous tropical fish. However, in the Mediterranean basin, where poisonous species are not found, episodic fishing is practiced.

The depths of the seas and oceans abound with various inhabitants, among which there are quite dangerous for humans. Among them is the Moray fish, a meeting with which does not bode well. It is especially dangerous for divers who dive into the depths of the sea with special equipment. The moray eel has a strong disposition, and when a person approaches, it behaves very aggressively. At the slightest danger, she attacks the swimmer without warning, and can inflict serious injuries on him, because the fish's teeth are very sharp.

The color of the moray eel depends on the habitat, and can vary from dark brown to gray, with light spots. It always corresponds to the surrounding landscape, which is due to the need for camouflage and protection from enemies. Murena lives in the coral reefs of the Red and Mediterranean Seas, as well as in other places of the oceans. An adult reaches a rather impressive size, from 1.8 to 3 meters and can weigh 50 kg or more. There are also small moray eels, weighing up to 5 kg, but they are also dangerous to humans, as they have a harsh disposition and very sharp teeth. Moray eels live for about 10 years.

The mating season for Muren falls in the winter months. At this time, they gather in shallow water, where they lay eggs, from which, subsequently, larvae will emerge, and, thanks to the sea current, will spread throughout the sea.

The moray eel is a predator. Goes hunting at night. The victim lies in wait, being in shelter. As soon as a marine inhabitant approaches and gapes, it will immediately find itself in a toothy mouth. Murena hunts for an octopus in a completely different way, which is a delicacy for her. She drives him into a shelter from which he cannot get out, and, sticking her flat head between the stones, gradually bites off small pieces from his body. During the day, the predator is passive, and hides in the crevices of rocks, among coral reefs, and in other bottom shelters. But if a fish swims in the immediate vicinity of his shelter, then it will certainly be attacked and immediately eaten.

You should not approach Murena, and even more so, try to touch her with your hands. It is very dangerous. It is better to watch her from the side, without making sudden movements. Its bite is similar to that of a pit bull. She grabs her prey and won't let go. It is difficult to open the jaws of a predator, and you can free yourself only by losing a piece of muscle tissue. The moray eel, wounded by a harpoon, behaves very aggressively. She attacks the diver, trying to bite him. It must be hunted with great care. Moray meat can be eaten only after special processing, as it may contain poison.

Moray eel is a fish that is not attractive. You will not want to get involved with her, even without knowing the dangers of too close contact. But we will still try to get closer to her and get to know this mysterious and very interesting creature, surrounded by gloomy glory.

What does a moray eel look like

The fish, the photo of which you can see in this article, has bare, intricately patterned skin, devoid of scales and covered with a thick protective layer of mucus, small eyes and a huge mouth armed with elongated and very sharp teeth - this is a short moray eel. To this we can add an elongated laterally flattened body, devoid of pectoral and ventral fins, making it look like a snake.

It used to be thought that moray eels were venomous in the same way as those of a snake, but researchers have found that this is not true. But the mucus that covers the body of this one saves it not only from microbes and mechanical damage, but is also poisonous. From contact with it, traces may appear on human skin, as from a burn.

Moray eel is a fish that has a very different color - it all depends on the habitat of this predator. Its camouflage coloration helps the fish blend into the landscape. She even has the inner side of her gums covered with the same pattern as her skin, because moray eels almost always keep their mouths open (too long teeth prevent it from closing).

The moray eel smells its victims at a great distance, but its eyesight, like that of a nocturnal animal, is almost not developed.

To swallow even a large piece torn off by this fish, an additional jaw, called the pharyngeal, helps it. It is located in the throat of the moray eel and moves forward as soon as the victim is dangerously close to the mouth of the predator.

Moray eels can live both at great depths (up to 60 m) and in the tidal zone. And some of them, for example, those belonging to the genus Gymnothorax, are able to get out of the water, which lingers in the crevices at low tide, and crawl for many meters on dry land in search of an outlet to the sea or to escape the chase.

Moray eel sizes

The sizes of these fish can fluctuate with a large amplitude. So, for example, a giant moray eel (in another way it is called Javanese lycodont) reaches a length of up to 3.75 meters, and it weighs up to 45 kg. There are also very small specimens that do not grow more than 10 cm. However, their mouths are also equipped with sharp teeth.

Males of all moray eels are noticeably smaller than females.

There are up to 200 species of these predators in the world. And most of them live in the warm waters of tropical and subtropical seas.

In the Red Sea, you can find the genus Echidna moray eels, which include zebra and snow moray eels, as well as Gymnothorax - geometric, stellar and white-spotted fish. The largest among them reaches 3 m in length.

The eponymous inhabitant of the Mediterranean Sea grows up to one and a half meters. It was this monster that served as the basis for the appearance of terrible legends that have come from antiquity.

Way of existence

Moray eel is a nocturnal fish. During the day, the predator sits quietly in the crevices of rocks or in the thickets of corals, and after dark comes out to hunt. Her prey are small fish, crabs, octopuses and

Among moray eels there are species that specialize mainly in such beauties can be recognized by the shape of their teeth. They are excellent for cracking shells.

By the way, watching moray eels hunting is not very pleasant. She tears the victim into small pieces with her teeth, and in just a minute nothing remains of her.

And the moray eel drives the octopus into some crevice and, sticking its head in the same place, tears off its tentacle after tentacle until it is all eaten.

About cooperation with moray eels

Moray eel is a fish about which there are many gloomy legends as an insatiable dangerous creature that knows no pity. But there are other eyewitness accounts that give us her image from the other side.

So, for example, moray eels can cooperate in hunting with sea bass. He, inviting her for prey, swims up to the hole and shakes his head. If the moray eel is hungry, she goes after the perch. He leads the fish to the hidden “lunch” and waits for the predator to dive into the hole and catch him, in order to then share with his hunting companion.

And wrasse fish are completely resignedly allowed to the body of a gloomy predator, as they are well-known and respected doctors. These agile bright fish, working in pairs, cleanse the body of moray eels, starting with the eyes, moving to the gills and fearlessly swimming into their mouths. And, interestingly, moray eels at the reception of these doctors do not touch not only them, but also other fish that have come to the wrasses for help and are waiting for their turn.

What is unusual about the saber-toothed moray eel

Separately, perhaps, it is worth mentioning the moray eels living in the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean. For the black stripes that adorn the yellow body, they are also called tiger moray eels. The jaws of these predators are decorated with two rows of teeth of different sizes. By the way, this is another special sign of these fish.

The fact is that the saber-toothed moray eel is armed with transparent, glass-looking teeth, which, however, can easily crush the shell of a crab or cancer. This shining weapon is kept clean by cleaner shrimp who live safely in the jaws of the fearsome creature.

Does a moray eel attack a person?

This gloomy and unfriendly-looking creature, of course, is not safe for people. But a moray eel bite will follow only if the person himself becomes a source of danger for her. That is, if a diver tries to stick his arm or leg into the hole where this fish is hiding, then let him not be surprised at the reaction of a frightened animal. Moreover, you should not pursue the moray eel floating away from you.

It is also dangerous to shoot from a harpoon into a crevice, fearing that there may be a predator. After all, if she really ends up there, then, getting angry, she will definitely try to attack you.

Remember that this fish does not just attack a creature that is larger than it, so leave it alone - and it will not touch you. Moreover, if you are careful and prudent, then the moray eel (the fish, the photo of which you had the opportunity to see here) can become your friend. Famous ocean explorers and divers have repeatedly written about this.