Moray description. Moray: toothy, predatory and poisonous

I don’t think that anyone is fascinated by admiring 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 the 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 warm waters 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, 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 the 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 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 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, large sizes. Pectoral fins moray eels are absent, and the rest - dorsal, anal and caudal - have fused into one train, framing the back of the body.

Moray eels can reach significant sizes. By different sources, their length can be 2.5 and 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 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. 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 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 into the water - 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 diver from New Zealand 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 times years may contain toxic substances, causing 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 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 scary 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.

2. In fact, these creatures are quite timid and attack a person only if they are teased or disturbed.

3. The 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, which is why moray eels are often called snake fish.

4. In general, the appearance of these individuals is so unique that it is difficult to find another fish similar to moray eel.

5. Appearance Moray eels are quite frightening and unflattering: a huge mouth and small eyes, the body is slightly flattened on the sides. They have no pectoral fins, while the caudal and dorsal fins form one continuous fin fold.

6. Fish - the moray eel snake has no scales, and its color can vary depending on its habitat.

7. Most individuals have a variegated color with the presence of blue and yellow-brown shades, but there are also absolutely white fish.

9.Moray eels have impressive dimensions: the body length of moray eels ranges from 65 to 380 centimeters depending on the species, and the weight of individual representatives can significantly exceed 40 kilograms.

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

Giant moray eel Javan lycodont

11. In total, there are about 100 species of these predatory fish in the world. Among them there are both small individuals and giants, for example, the moray eel Gymnothorax javanicus. This giant moray eel is also called the Javan gymnothorax or Javan lycodont.

12. The camouflage color of giant moray eels is somewhat reminiscent of a leopard print. Head, upper part the bodies and fins are yellow-brown and richly strewn with dark spots of various sizes. The abdominal part remains without a pattern.

13. This moray eel is rightfully considered gigantic. For clarity, you can imagine huge snake as thick as an adult’s thigh and 2.5–3 meters long.

15. Like all representatives of fish from the moray eel family, the giant moray eel avoids open water and prefers to hide in reliable shelters located at a depth of no more than 50 meters.

16. The moray eel Gymnothorax javanicus lives in tropical and temperate waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans, the Red Sea, and the coasts of islands Southeast Asia, New Caledonia and Australia.

Yellowmouth moray

17. Some species, such as the yellowmouth moray, are capable of descending to depths of one hundred and fifty meters and even lower.

18. Huge and sharp teeth help to quickly deal with prey. Almost all moray eels have not one, but two pairs of jaws in their mouths. The first - the main one, with large teeth, is where it should be, and the second - the pharyngeal - in the pharynx area

19. During hunting, the back jaw is located deep in the throat, but as soon as the prey is close to the moray eel’s mouth, it moves almost close to the front ones. Its main purpose is to push food into the esophagus and crush it. Agree, it is unlikely that the prey will be able to escape from this double “trap”.

20.Moray eel fish do not live in schools, preferring a solitary lifestyle.

21. The basis of the diet of moray eels are various fish, cuttlefish, sea urchins, octopuses and crabs.

22. Most moray eels choose to live at a depth of up to forty meters, spending most of their time in shallow water.

23. Moray eels are rarely eaten, so there is no targeted fishing for them.

24. The ancient Romans highly valued moray eel meat for its specific taste.

25. Nowadays, zoo lovers like to keep small moray eels in their aquariums.

26. During the day, moray eels hide among all kinds of shelters from corals and stones, while possessing excellent camouflage abilities.

27. In the dark, fish go out hunting and, relying on their excellent sense of smell, track down prey.

28. Features of the body structure allow moray eels to pursue their prey.

29.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 victim, at least partially satisfying the feeling of hunger.

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

31. The larva of the moray eel fish that is born is called “leptocephalus”.

32. The hatched fish eggs 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.

33. Moray eels reach sexual maturity at the age of 4 to 6 years, after which the individual becomes capable of reproducing in the future.

34. Life expectancy of moray eel fish in conditions natural habitat is approximately 10 years.

35.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.

The moray eel has long been considered a dangerous and voracious predator. According to ancient Roman sources, noble gentlemen and nobles used moray eels as one of the methods of punishing guilty slaves. People were thrown into a pool with moray eels and watched a desperate fight. Before this, predatory fish were kept from hand to mouth and for several months accustomed to the smell of human blood.

Giant moray (lat. Gymnothorax javanicus) (eng. Giant moray). Photo by Andrey Narchuk

This is one of dark sides life of moray eels. But are they really so terrible and dangerous for humans? The answer is no! Most of the attacks of moray eels on humans occur solely through the fault of the person himself. And rightly so! There is no point in teasing a predator with teeth long and sharp as daggers.

Sharp teeth

Moray eel attacks a larger enemy only in cases of self-defense. Remember, not a single predator will simply rush at a creature that is larger than itself. Therefore, curious divers should not stick their hands where they shouldn’t, otherwise they could end up without fingers or even an arm. In particular, you should not stick your hands into small holes, caves and grottoes located in coral reefs, since this is where moray eels live.

In total, there are about 100 species of these predatory fish in the world. Among them there are both small individuals and giants, for example, the moray eel Gymnothorax javanicus. It is also called Javan gymnothorax or Javan lycodont. These moray eels grow up to 3 meters in length.

Its home is the tropical and temperate waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Red Sea, the coasts of the islands of Southeast Asia, New Caledonia and Australia.

Like all representatives of fish from the moray eel family, the giant moray eel avoids open water and prefers to hide in reliable shelters located at a depth of no more than 50 meters.

Giant moray eel and cleaner

The camouflage color of giant moray eels is somewhat reminiscent of a leopard print. The head, upper body and fins are yellow-brown and richly strewn with dark spots of various sizes. The abdominal part remains without a pattern.

The giant moray eel hunts alone and exclusively at night, but sometimes there are exceptions (more on this below, when the joint hunting of the giant moray eel and sea bass will be considered).

You can't call her a gourmet. It feeds on almost any fish, large or small, crustaceans and cephalopods. She swallows small prey whole, and drives large prey into some crevice and there tears off piece by piece from it.

The pharyngeal jaw is indicated by an arrow

Huge and sharp teeth help to quickly deal with prey. BUT, here lies the little secret of almost all moray eels; they have not one, but two pairs of jaws in their mouths. The first - the main one, with large teeth, is where it should be, and the second - the pharyngeal - in the pharynx area. (P.S. They say that it was the moray eel that served as the prototype for the creation of a second, smaller, retractable jaw in the monster from the movie “Alien.”)

During hunting, the back jaw is located deep in the throat, but as soon as the prey is close to the mouth of the moray eel, it moves almost close to the front ones. Its main purpose is to push food into the esophagus and crush it. Agree, it is unlikely that the prey will be able to escape from this double “trap”.

Well, now what was promised - some interesting information about the joint hunt of the giant moray eel and sea bass - another predatory inhabitant underwater world.

Moray and sea bass

Usually each of them hunts alone: moray eel - at night and from ambush, and sea bass - during the day and in open water, so the only shelter from it is corals. But some moray eels of the Red Sea decided to break all the rules - periodically they go hunting during the day, and even with a companion.

Almost always, the initiator of such a hunt is sea bass. He swims up to the moray eel's hole and if its owner has already put her head out, then he shakes his head in different sides right in front of her nose. These actions mean an invitation to hunt together. The fish takes this step only if it is very hungry or its prey has hidden in a shelter not far from the moray eel’s burrow.

Having led it to the right place, the perch begins to shake its head, pointing to the right place. And the moray eel slips inside for its prey. All lunch is caught. The giant moray eel does not always eat the fish it catches with the help of its companion. Periodically, she gives it to her “comrade”.

Little is known about the reproduction process of the giant moray eel. Like other species, it reproduces by eggs. Most often, several females gather in shallow water, where they lay eggs, which are then fertilized by the males. Eggs often travel in water along with sea currents and are carried over long distances.

Hatched moray eels feed on zooplankton until they grow up. They then move to corals or reef areas to escape other predators, most often sharks.

Oral cleaning

Moray eels are not eaten very often and there is no targeted fishing for them. Although in ancient Rome moray eels were very highly valued for the specific taste of their meat. If smaller representatives of moray eels can be kept in an aquarium, then such a trick is unlikely to work with a giant moray eel, since it will need too much space for a comfortable stay.

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 motley 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-like 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 in the warm waters of the 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 cracks, 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 life living in warm waters. The greatest species diversity of these unique fish is noted in Indian Ocean, especially in the Red Sea. They can also be found in Atlantic Ocean(Mediterranean Sea), as well as in certain areas of the 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 western parts 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

All kinds of moray eels eat 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.

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 the 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.

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 the narrow burrows and crevices that moray eels use as shelter and homes.

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 the 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 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 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.

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 into the water - 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 diver from New Zealand 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.

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.