Are moray eels dangerous? Moray

Sea fish moray eel It belongs to the eel family and is widely known for its unusual appearance and aggressive behavior. Even the Ancient Romans bred these fish in bays and partitioned ponds.

For the reason that their meat was considered an unsurpassed delicacy, and Emperor Nero, famous for his own cruelty, loved to entertain his friends by throwing slaves into a pond to feed moray eels. In fact, these creatures are quite timid and attack a person only if they are teased or touched.

Features and habitat of moray eels

Moray eel fish is a predator that has many features similar to snakes. For example, a powerful snake-like body allows them not only to move comfortably in the water, but also to hide in narrow burrows and rock crevices. Their appearance is quite frightening and unflattering: a huge mouth and small eyes, the body is slightly flattened on the sides.

If you look at photo of moray eel fish, then it can be observed that pectoral fins they have no fins, while the caudal and dorsal ones form one continuous fin fold.

The teeth are sharp and quite long, so the fish’s mouth almost never closes. The fish's vision is very poorly developed, and it identifies its victims by smell, which allows them to determine the presence of prey at an impressive distance.

Fish - snake moray eel has no scales, and its color can vary depending on its habitat. Most individuals have a variegated color with the presence of blue and yellow-brown shades, but there are also absolutely white fish.

Just look video with moray eel fish in order to get an idea of its impressive dimensions: the body length of the moray eel ranges from 65 to 380 centimeters depending on the species, and the weight of individual representatives can significantly exceed 40 kilograms.

The front part of the fish's body is thicker than the back. Female moray eels usually have more weight and dimensions than males.

Today there are more than a hundred species of moray eels. They are found virtually everywhere in the basins of the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific oceans in temperate and tropical latitudes.

They live mainly at great depths up to fifty meters. Some species, such as the yellowmouth moray, are capable of descending to depths of one hundred and fifty meters and even lower.

Generally appearance of these individuals is so unique that it is difficult to find another fish similar to moray eel. There is a widespread belief that moray eels are poisonous fish, which is actually not so far from the truth.

The bite of a moray eel is very painful; in addition, the fish firmly clings with its teeth to one or another part of the body, and it is extremely difficult to unhook it. The consequences of a bite are very unpleasant, since moray eel mucus contains substances that are toxic to humans.

That is why the wound takes a very long time to heal and causes constant discomfort; there are even cases where a moray eel bite caused death.

Character and lifestyle of moray eel fish

The fish leads predominantly night image life. During the day, she usually hides among coral reefs, in crevices rocks or between the stones, and with the onset of night it invariably goes out hunting.

Most individuals choose to live in depths of up to forty meters, spending most of their time in shallow water. Speaking of description of moray eel fish, it is necessary to note the fact that these fish do not settle in schools, preferring a solitary lifestyle.

Moray eels today pose quite a big danger to divers and spearfishing enthusiasts. Typically, these fish, although they are predators, do not attack large objects, however, if a person accidentally or intentionally disturbs a moray eel, it will fight with incredible aggression and fury.

The fish's grip is very strong, since it has an additional pair of jaws for thoroughly grinding food, so many compare it with the iron grip of a bulldog.

Moray eel nutrition

The diet of moray eels consists of various fish, cuttlefish, sea urchins, octopuses and crabs. During the day, moray eels hide among all kinds of shelters from corals and stones, while possessing excellent camouflage abilities.

At night, fish go out hunting and, using their excellent sense of smell, track down prey. Features of the body structure allow moray eels to pursue their prey.

If the prey turns out to be too large for the moray eel, it begins to intensively help itself with its tail. The fish makes a kind of “knot”, which, passing along the entire body, creates great pressure in the jaw muscles, reaching up to one ton. As a result, the moray eel bites off a significant piece of its prey, at least partially satisfying the feeling of hunger.

Reproduction and lifespan of moray eel

Moray eels reproduce by spawning. In the cold season, they gather in shallow waters, where the process of fertilization of eggs takes place.

The fish eggs that are born are small in size (no more than ten millimeters), so the current can carry them over a long distance, thus individuals from one “brood” are scattered across various places habitat.

The larva of the moray eel fish that is born is called “leptocephalus”. Moray eels reach sexual maturity at the age of four to six years, after which the individual becomes capable of reproducing in the future.

Life expectancy of moray eel fish in conditions natural habitat is approximately ten years. They usually live in an aquarium for no more than two years, where they are fed mainly with fish and shrimp. Adults are given food approximately once a week, young moray eels are fed three times a week, respectively.

Beautiful fish... Incredibly many. Every time I never cease to be amazed at the imagination of Nature. Sometimes such inconceivable forms occur that you become convinced that Darwin’s explanations of natural selection are absurd. The species were clearly created by the hand of the Creator, at least the fish of the Red Sea for sure. But among this beauty there are dangerous representatives, they need to be recognized from afar. Not in order to immediately run away, no, but in order to be on guard, not to provoke and to know how to behave around them. Moray eel is one of the most harmless dangers.

Moray is a dangerous strong predator

Her entire terrifying image warns - don’t get involved! Yes, this can be intuitively felt immediately. Appearance says a lot.

Appearance is not attractive

The laterally flattened snake body, without pectoral and ventral fins, has only dorsal, fused with the tail.

The giant moray eel awaits the night.

A head with a huge, constantly open mouth, from which sharp elongated teeth protrude.
Little sly eyes. Large nostrils, two pairs - one in front, like a nose, another like tubes above the eyes.
The skin is bare, scales are completely absent.
The body, instead of scales, is covered with a layer of protective mucus, which allows it to slip into any cracks.

First acquaintance

At the dawn of my acquaintance with diving, I fell for the offer of an Arab instructor, who was hand-feeding a local semi-tamed two-meter-long female Adela, to pet her.
I remember the contrast of impressions: soft, even delicate skin, and a huge mouth with fangs at a distance of half a meter from my face. For some reason, the mouth is constantly open, this is connected with breathing.
Later I learned that there are species with poisonous mucus that causes burns, and I no longer stroked them even with a glove.

Moray Giant.

Is moray eel dangerous for people?

Of course yes, potentially! It’s just that this predator is not in everyone’s sight, like the generally recognized killers: shark, barracuda swordfish or killer whale.
Although there is an opinion that it is absolutely harmless to humans, but only when the person himself does not provoke it, and if you do not pay attention to the frightening image, then this is a calm animal.

Perhaps there is a small grain of truth in this.
That is, there is no point in sticking your hands and feet into coral caves, checking if anyone interesting is sitting there.
I know about cases of taming these monsters to the level of a domestic dog; I myself fed one.
I also read semi-legends about military-trained individuals, specially trained to hunt humans, to protect their secret objects from the sea.
In general, I will remain with my opinion. Dangerous.

Moray eel in ambush.

The predator has elongated, sharp, curved teeth.
They used to claim that fangs were poisonous, like those of snakes, but now they believe that there are no poison glands, but the bite is a source of infection , like monitor lizards.
Snakefish bite dangerous due to blood poisoning and very painful.

Lifestyle and habitats

Usually during the day, the night hunter hides in the crevices of the reef, timidly sticking her head out. Does not hide and is not afraid of approaching people.

Her vision is weak, according to ichthyologists, myopic.
Only a very gaping fish can provoke the hunting instinct by swimming right in front of the mouth.
By the way, the moray eel will not miss the octopus even during the day, it seems that this is its delicacy.
It jumps out of its hole like an arrow, drives it into a crevice and tears it off piece by piece, starting with the tentacles.

With the onset of night, using his subtle sense of smell, he turns into a ruthless killer. At dusk it leaves cover and hunts all living things.
Food includes fish, crabs, crustaceans, octopuses, lobsters, and some species even sea urchins and mollusks.

He considers the crevices of coastal coral reefs and underwater rocks to be his favorite habitat.
During low tide, I observed many times small moray eels crawling along the dry coral shelf from hole to hole like ordinary snakes.

Pay attention to the camouflage coloration of the amazing snakefish.
Any shades of olive, brown, green-blue, black help them blend into the surrounding background of the coral reef.
There are completely black, white and blue varieties.
A distinctive feature is the coloring of the inside of the mouth to match the color of the skin.

The meat of all moray eels, like all eels to which they belong, is a delicacy. Use only after cooking high temperature, no pickles.
Her blood is toxic , some meat is poisonous. The toxin destroys red blood cells in mammalian blood.
At heat treatment, the poison disintegrates.

While hunting, demonstrating the incredible flexibility of its subtle body. This article is devoted to moray eels, which are made very similar to snakes not only by their shape, but also by the poisonousness of some of them.

About two hundred species of these unique inhabitants of the seas are known, which scientists have united into a family with the scientific name - Muraenidae (Moray eels). These are the closest relatives of eels, as they belong to the order Anguilliformes.

Aggressive and poisonous

Representatives of the Murenovs have been well known to people since ancient times and have a reputation for being aggressive and poisonous living creatures. All species are quite large: from 60 centimeters to almost 4 meters. Features appearance:

The body is very long and slightly flattened on the sides, it is thinner in the back, and thicker in the middle and in the front.
There are no pectoral fins, but the dorsal fin is very long and stretches along the entire back.
The muzzle is slightly elongated with small eyes and a large, almost always wide open mouth filled with sharp teeth.

Open mouth and frozen eyes

In the photo of the moray eel fish, a huge wide-open mouth with sharp teeth is clearly visible. These predators do not have many teeth (less than three dozen), they are located in one row and slightly curved back.

However, crustacean-eating species have teeth that are not very sharp and enable them to crush the tough shells of crabs. It was believed that these fish keep their mouths constantly open due to their very large teeth. The reason is different: the need to continuously pump water through the mouth, because being in the shelter most of the time, the moray eel does not have a constant flow of fresh water to the gills.

A seemingly evil, frozen look in the eyes is also associated with being in ambush for a long time while waiting for prey.

Other appearance features and color of moray eels

The moray eel fish has no scales, and the skin is smooth and thick, covered with mucus. Thanks to mucus, fish easily penetrate into various burrows and crevices that they use as homes. During a hunt, mucus allows the predator to very quickly jump out of cover and attack an unwary prey.

The gill slits are strongly shifted posteriorly and look like small oval holes; this feature is clearly visible in the photo of the moray eel fish. Some species have a dark spot on the gill opening.

Of the four nasal openings, one pair looks like fairly long nostrils in the form of tubes or leaves. A video of a moray eel taken at the Coex Aquarium (Seoul) gives the opportunity to see the yellow tubes of the nostrils of a snow moray eel.

What color are moray eels?

The skin color of moray eels is often camouflage, corresponding to the surrounding conditions: dark brown, grayish shades, often mottled with spots; some species may be plain or even striped, which is a rare exception (see video of the zebra moray eel below).

The bright color that is not typical for moray eels is distinguished by the ribbon rhinomurena (Rhinomuraena quaesita), which, due to its changing color throughout life, has several other names: blue ribbon eel, black-striped eel and blue-striped eel. The word “eel” in this context only means that it is a close relative of eels and belongs to the eel order.

Color and gender changing rhinomurene

Ribbon moray ( Rhinomuraena quaesita) like (amphiprions) is a protandric hermaphrodite. This means that young individuals are all males, then when their body length reaches more than 85 centimeters, they become females.

As moray eels of this species grow older, their color changes three times:

The juveniles have deep black skin and a bright yellow dorsal fin.
Having reached sixty centimeters in length, the young turn into bright blue males, their jaws turn yellow.
In males with a body length of 85 centimeters, a change of sex occurs, they become females and the color of the body gradually turns from blue to yellow. Females of Ribbon Rhinomurena are yellow in color.

Regardless of its color and sexual state (juvenile, male or female), the ribbon moray eel can claim the status of the most elegant among moray eels: its body is thin and long, resembling a ribbon.

The graceful image is completed by an elongated, pointed muzzle with wide fan-shaped lobes above the upper jaw. These lobes are modified nostrils, thanks to which Rhinomuraena quaesita has another name - nosed moray eel.

These live amazing fish V warm waters Indian and Pacific oceans: among coral reefs, in shallow lagoons, the bottom of which is covered with silt or sand. They can completely bury themselves in the sand, and only the head with wide characteristic nostrils remains visible from the outside. Almost all the time, rhinomurens hide in shelters, which are crevices, voids among stones, caves in the reef.

Their diet consists almost entirely of small fish. They lure prey with smooth movements of the skin outgrowths located at the tip of the lower jaw. They can also eat crustaceans, but rarely.

Environment and lifestyle

Moray eels are exclusively marine inhabitants living in warm waters. The greatest species diversity of these unique fish observed in the Indian Ocean, especially in the Red Sea. They can also be found in Atlantic Ocean(Mediterranean Sea), as well as in certain areas Pacific Ocean. Sometimes in search engines the query appears: “European moray eel” freshwater fish" This is an incorrect formulation, because the European moray eel (Muraena helena) lives only in sea water: in the Mediterranean Sea and along Atlantic coast Africa.

Moray eels are bottom dwellers because they prefer to stay near the bottom and practically do not appear on the surface of the water. They are most active at night, when they emerge from their hiding places to hunt. During the day they hide in crevices between rocks and rocks or among corals. The head is outside the shelter and constantly moves: this is how the moray eel looks out for fish swimming past - its possible prey.

Are there freshwater moray eels?

Yes, there is a known species of moray eels that have the ability to live in water with sharply changing salinity. This is an Indian mud moray (scientific name Gymnothorax tile), only 60 centimeters long, living in the western parts of the Pacific Ocean (from the coasts of India to the Philippine Islands). This species lives in coastal estuaries, as well as mangrove forests and swamps, where salinity changes frequently; it is called the “freshwater moray eel”. However, this name only indicates the place where the fish were caught, but does not mean the preferred living environment. This moray eel can remain in desalinated water for a long time, but for favorable maintenance it is better to place it in an aquarium with salt water. At good nutrition and conditions of detention, a freshwater moray eel can live in captivity for thirty years.

Food, enemies and friends of moray eels

Moray eels eat all kinds of bottom fish; cephalopods(primarily octopuses, but also squid and cuttlefish); crustaceans (large shrimp and crabs); from echinoderms - sea urchins. They hunt mainly at night, and during the day they hide in their homes (any more natural shelter among corals and rocks). To find food, the main aid is the sense of smell, and moray eels usually sense prey from a great distance. As soon as the potential victim is within reach, the predator quickly jumps out from its hiding place and grabs it with a death grip thanks to its sharp teeth.

Moray eels have practically no enemies. After all, they constantly sit in shelters, and there are few who want to fight with a large and quite strong fish armed with a mouth with sharp teeth. In rare moments of free swimming, the moray eel may be pursued by other fish, but it immediately hides in a nearby crevice. There are species that are able to crawl away from their pursuers even over land, moving to a safe place.

One of the most dangerous inhabitants seabed – moray eel fish PAGEREF

First acquaintance.
Species diversity.
Lifestyle and connection with a person.
Reproduction and offspring.

One of the most dangerous inhabitants of the seabed is the moray eel fish.

First acquaintance

Moray eel, a fish since ancient times, belonged to one of the most interesting and attention-grabbing families of fish. Such greedy enthusiasm in finding, catching and studying them can hardly be explained beautiful shape or harmless behavior. Moreover, there have been cases of them attacking people.

The sea fish moray eel belongs to the order of eels. It reaches impressive lengths, the color is variegated, spotted and varies depending on environment. Everyone knows that the nostrils of fish are not intended for breathing, but perform an olfactory function. Moray eels are doubly successful in this matter; they have two pairs of nostrils.

Another interesting fact is their lack of language. Over time, as they grow up, they lose their fins, and this gives them a certain resemblance to snakes. This unflattering description ends with something resembling a fish head with tiny eyes and a prominent mouth. With its ugly structure of teeth, sharp as knives, its jaw can perhaps only be compared with that of a shark.

Until recently, it was widely believed that its teeth were poisonous, but numerous studies and studies of this fish have refuted this theory. It is widely believed that the moray eel cannot completely close its mouth due to the size of its teeth, but this fact also turned out to be unfounded, since this is due to the fact that it hides in places where the flow of water to the gills is difficult and the mouth is used for breathing.

For all their gluttony, moray eels deprive their attention of wrasse fish - cleaners and shrimp - orderlies. These small inhabitants of the underwater world serve as house servants for moray eels; they clean their skin on the head and in the mouth.

Species diversity

This family is rich in species diversity, ranging from the Red Sea to western part Indian Ocean moray eel species:

Snezhnaya;
Ring;
Moray eel - zebra;
White-lipped;
Wild;
Moray Berndt et al.

Muraena Helena

Most common. These predators live in holes in coral reefs and recesses of underwater rocks. The choice of such a habitat is not accidental and is directly related to the nature and method of its hunting. She hides in secluded places, only sticking her head out slightly, and when the time comes, she attacks the unsuspecting victim with lightning speed. TO sea creatures Those suffering from her gluttony include the following:

Octopuses;
Cancers;
Small fish;
Crabs;
Cuttlefish.

If the prey is small, it quickly deals with it with the help of its terrifying teeth. When she comes across something larger, for example, an octopus, she tears small pieces from him. Even natural protection shell-shaped crayfish cannot be saved from their powerful jaws.
Wild moray eel (Muraenesox ferox)

Of all the species, it is most similar to a snake due to its longer length head and its conical shape. It has small brown spots on its sides. The habitat may include subtropical zone Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.

Berndt's moray (Gymnothorax berndti)

Its distinctive feature is its specific coloring. The general color is dark brown with black zigzag stripes throughout the body. Found in tropical seas. Very similar to its fellows in lifestyle and habitats. Features include the almost frantic pressure with which it attacks its victim and defends itself when threatened.

Lifestyle and connection with a person

IN underwater world they are rarely attacked by other fish. Nightlife and camouflage with coral reefs and other natural means of concealment, they are almost always safe. In rare cases of persecution, some species can overcome small areas of land with the help of a developed muscular system.

Cases of attacks on humans are rare, since the reason for the attack can only be a manifestation of aggression or excessive curiosity. In this case, it is mainly adults who pose a serious danger. For the first time, the specific taste of the Mediterranean moray eel was appreciated by gourmets Ancient Rome. Nowadays, people often engage in fishing related to the extraction of these fish because of their exotic taste, although the meat of some species is poisonous.

Reproduction and offspring

Such an issue as reproduction has not yet been fully studied. Some of their species are dioecious. Like eels, the offspring of moray eels are called leptocephali. The body of small fish is absolutely transparent, in the first minutes of life they are very tiny, the shape of the head is round, and the caudal fin is rounded.

Due to their tiny size and inability to resist the flow of water, they drift freely with the current. Thus, the spread of moray eels, sedentary in their way of life, occurs. They quickly become sexually mature and can already produce new offspring. For a fish, they have a fairly long lifespan.

Video review of the most dangerous moray eel fish:

Moray eels are undoubtedly very graceful animals, but few people know that these fish are capable of hunting effectively with other types of fish like groupers, but they also pose a certain danger to humans, especially to careless divers.

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

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

Moray eels poor eyesight and they mainly rely on their keen sense of smell, which is why it is difficult for them to find the boundary between their fingers and the food held by their hand. Many divers have lost 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 in danger of death and therefore has to manually unclench its jaws. While most are not considered poisonous, circumstantial evidence suggests that some species may be.

Video. Interesting things 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 ciguatera (fish poisoning). During the day, moray eels rest in crevices and hunt at night, although they may chase small fish and crustaceans that swim nearby 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 extend beyond these regions. They live at depths of up to several hundred meters, where they spend most of their time hiding inside crevices and burrows. While several species are regularly found in brackish water, very few species can be found in fresh water, such as the freshwater moray eel (Gymnothorax polyuranodon) and the pink-lipped moray eel (Echidna rhodochilus).

Despite its snake-like appearance, the moray eel is a fish and 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 abdomen. Although it may appear to have one fin, there are actually three: an elongated dorsal fin, a caudal fin, and an anal fin. Moray eels move like swimming snakes, thanks to their wave-like movements they are able to cut through the water very quickly.

Photo. Second jaws of a moray eel

Moray eels are piscivores, meaning 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 mouth, called oral jaws, and second jaws in the throat, called pharyngeal jaws. Unlike other fish with jaws, the second jaws of moray eels are very mobile. After the moray eel bites into 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 virtually no chance of salvation. Interestingly, while the existence of second jaws was fairly well known for a long time, the mechanism of ingestion of food by moray eels was only fully revealed only in 2007.

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

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

Moray eels can hunt alone or in groups. When moray eels hunt in groups, they do not team up with other moray eels, but do so with fish of other species. This type of hunting is known as "nuclear hunting" and is observed in several other fish species, such as flute fish and groupers (lat. Plectropomus pessuliferus). In Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach's book, Reef Fish Behavior, the nuclear hunting behavior of moray eels is described in detail:

Photo. Joint hunting of moray eels and sea bass

Video. Grouper and moray eel hunting together

“The moray eel almost always waits for the sea bass to position itself next to its body before making a lunge. In any case, the fish contacts the moray eel by shaking its head in front of its head. It looks like the two animals are cooperating during their next joint hunt in coral. sea bass can close the escape route while the moray eel invades behind the dark curtain.” One way or another, one of the animals gets food.

Photo. Shrimp cleaning the mouth of a moray eel

Known attacks of moray eels on humans

Moray eel took a bite out of the diver thumb
This happened in 2005 on the Similan Islands in Thailand. Matt Butcher, a dive instructor, worked aboard the Liveaboard MV Queen Scuba Similans as an underwater videographer. He had already made five or six dives among moray eels. A year or two ago, he first saw how these fish were fed. Matt regularly fed moray eels while diving. He wanted to get high quality pictures moray eel during its dive. Clients loved him when they watched the videos in the evenings, especially when the moray eel took food directly from Matt's hands. Matt usually took the sausages, mainly because they were left over from breakfast and wouldn't disintegrate under the water. Unfortunately, to Matt the sausages looked like fingers.

The next day, Matt sailed with his girlfriend Bex, who worked on the boat as a dive instructor. It was like any other day, but the anxiety level was high as they knew they were going to see the giant moray eel again. The first part of the dive was not interesting, and Matt and Bex hurried to the coral. Visibility was about twenty meters, Matt and Bex saw a moray eel swimming. It is normal for moray eels to emerge from crevices and investigate any divers that come close to their coral lair. Matt fed the moray eel several times, it returned to the coral and hid in it, leaving only its head sticking out. In order to persuade her to swim out again, Matt decided to feed her from his food bag. He gave the camera to Bex and signaled for 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 getting food from plastic bag, because the movement of the water made it difficult for him to find the hole to remove the sausage from there. Moray noticed a bag of food appear and swam very close to Matt, concentrating on finding the open end of the bag. Moray eel smelled food and was impatient.

Photo. Lurking moray eel

Photo. Moray eel takes a closer look

Initially, Matt simply felt some pressure on his left thumb and tried to pull his hand away. That’s when the moray eel stopped all the man’s efforts and grabbed onto his thumb better. All this happened very quickly. Matt knew he had to pull 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 right hand into her mouth and tried to open her jaw to get his thumb. She bit again and more blood came out into the ocean. Moray was not going to let go.

The moray sailed away and everything seemed calm... Matt looked down at his hand to see torn flesh and the bone of his thumb. The thumb has disappeared. Matt looked back towards the moray eel to see it swallow his thumb and return to its coral. Bex was wide-eyed and motionless. She couldn't believe what just happened. She was simply filming one of her best friends whose thumb was bitten off by a giant moray eel in front of her eyes.

Matt didn't panic and made a slow and controlled climb to the surface. At that moment, Claude from the Queen Scuba yacht was sailing past him with a group of divers. Matt showed Claude his hand and indicated that he had a problem. Claude smiled and continued his dive, thinking Matt was joking. As Matt rose to the surface, the water began to turn red. There was a lot of blood. But on the surface, blood sprayed 50 cm into the air. It looked like a fountain, as the tiny arteries were completely torn and open. Matt screamed loudly for the boat to take him away. The boat driver was horrified when he saw the extent of Matt's injury and the blood in the water. A compress was applied on the boat and the bleeding was largely stopped. After a quick stop on one of the islands, Matt and Bex were taken to the mainland by motorboat. 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 hospital and racked up a fantastic bill. In addition, they paid for the evacuation from the Similan Islands. The total bill was about half a million baht (about $14,000).

Video. Moray eel bit off diver's finger

He was asked to have one of his toes amputated and transplanted onto his hand to replace the missing finger. All the nerves, tendons and blood vessels had to be connected and it would essentially be like a new thumb. It took five months. The operation was expensive.

Matt turned to the 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 six hundred thousand baht ($16.5 thousand).

A month after the operation, the graft took root and Matt returned to diving. It's worth noting that Matt no longer hates moray eels or any other marine life. He still dives in the same place sometimes 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
2013 Jimmy Griffin, 48, a scuba diver from Galway, said of the attack in Killary: “Suddenly I got really swipe in the face. I felt like rag doll. He grabbed my face and started shaking it violently. He bit, pulled and circled around my face. I got a terrible feeling of numbness on the right side of my face. My regulator fell out and my vision started to get really blurry due to the blood in the water. The blood looked like octopus ink, very dark."

Photo. Conger eel

Photo. Conger eel bite wound

Photo. Stitches on a man's face after being bitten conger eel

Galway bakery owner Jimmy had completed more than 200 dives and knew he had to remain calm in this 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 me drowning. When he finally let go, I saw that it was a conger 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 had inside and outside my mouth, but they say the scar will eventually be invisible," he said. He needed 20 stitches on his face.

A surfer was attacked by a moray eel in Hawaii.
On October 17, 2015, a 33-year-old local man was surfing at 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 before medical personnel arrived. Although the representative of the Department of Lands and natural resources Hawaii said it had never heard of a moray eel attack in the state, officials found no evidence of a shark attack and believe the man's injuries were consistent with a moray eel bite, not a shark.

Although moray eels frequently visit coral reefs in Hawaii, officials have not reached a concrete conclusion. At the same time, experts do not exclude other options, noting that barracudas were also recently spotted near Waikiki. Hours before the attack, another person was injured, although officials suspect that in this case tiger shark could have been the culprit of the attack. Witnesses reported that the 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 were just hanging,” said one passerby. The man was taken to hospital in critical condition.

2010 documentary film “Moray Eels. Alien Empire"

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

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

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

Video. Moray eel attacks diver

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