Morena animal. Relatives of eels are moray eels. Are there freshwater moray eels?

Moray is a fish that is not particularly attractive. You won’t want to get involved with her, even without knowing about 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, a photo of which you can see in this article, has bare, intricately patterned skin, devoid of scales and covered with a thick protective layer 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 was previously believed that the teeth of moray eels were poisonous, just like those of a snake, but researchers have discovered that this is not true. But the mucus that covers this body saves it not only from microbes and mechanical damage, but is also poisonous. From contact with her human skin Traces like a burn may appear.

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

The moray eel senses its victims by smell at a great distance, but its vision, like that of a nocturnal animal, is almost undeveloped.

An additional jaw called the pharyngeal jaw helps it swallow even a large piece torn off by this fish. It is located in the moray eel’s throat and moves forward as soon as the prey is dangerously close to the predator’s mouth.

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

Moray eel sizes

The sizes of these fish can fluctuate with great amplitude. For example, the giant moray eel (also called the Javan lycodont) reaches a length of up to 3.75 meters and 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 of moray eels Echidna, which include zebra and snow moray eels, as well as Gymnothorax - geometric, star and white-spotted fish. The largest among them reaches 3 m in length.

The eponymous inhabitant 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 since antiquity.

Way of existence

Moray - fish leading nightlife. During the day, the predator sits quietly in rock crevices or in coral thickets, and at nightfall it goes out hunting. Her victims are small fish, crabs, octopuses and

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

By the way, watching moray eels hunt is not very pleasant. She tears the victim into small pieces with her teeth, and literally within a minute there is nothing left of her.

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

About collaboration with moray eels

Moray eel is a fish about which there are many dark legends as an insatiable dangerous creature, who knows no pity. But there are other eyewitness accounts that give us another side of her image.

For example, a moray eel 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, it goes after the perch. He leads the fish to the hidden “dinner” and waits for the predator to dive into the hole and catch it, so that he can then share it with his hunting comrade.

And wrasse fish are completely resigned to the body of the gloomy predator, since they are famous and respected doctors. These agile, colorful fish, working in pairs, clean the body of moray eels, starting from the eyes, moving to the gills and fearlessly swimming into their mouths. And, interestingly, moray eels at these doctors’ appointments do not touch not only them, but also other fish that have swum to the wrasses for help and are waiting for their turn.

What is unusual about the saber-toothed moray eel?

Separately, it is perhaps worth mentioning moray eels living in the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean. Because of the black stripes decorating their 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 one special sign fish data.

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 crayfish. The cleanliness of this shining weapon is taken care of by cleaner shrimp, which live safely in the mouth of the terrible creature.

Does moray eel attack humans?

This gloomy and inhospitable-looking creature is, of course, unsafe for people. But a moray eel bite will occur only if the person himself becomes a source of danger for it. That is, if a diver tries to stick his arm or leg into the hole where this fish is hiding, then he should not be surprised by the reaction of the frightened animal. Moreover, you should not chase a moray eel swimming away from you.

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

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

For a long time one of the most dangerous predators planet was considered moray eel. IN Ancient Rome there was even a method of punishment - to throw the offending slave into a pool with moray eels, while the predatory fish were not specially fed very much for a long time and within two to three months they were accustomed to the smell of human blood. Largely because of this, moray eels are considered very dangerous to humans, but this is not so. Almost all attacks of moray eels on people occur only through human fault, since many people do not care about safety while in the water. It should be remembered that all predators never attack creatures that are larger in size first.

1. Likewise, a moray eel will attack a much larger enemy only for the purpose of self-defense, but many divers often carelessly stick their hands into small caves and grottoes that are located in coral reefs, although this is where moray eels live. There are about a hundred species of these fish, varying in size, throughout the planet.

3. Moray eels eat almost any large or small fish, as well as representatives of the families of crustaceans and cephalopods. She easily swallows small fish whole, but drives larger ones into a crevice in the reefs and there tears them into pieces. Two pairs of jaws equipped with huge and sharp teeth help it deal with prey. The first pair of jaws is the main one, it is located in the same place as in all fish, but the second is located in the pharynx area, it is called the pharyngeal. When a moray eel hunts, the pharyngeal jaw is located deep, but when prey approaches, it immediately moves out close to the main one, creating a “double trap” for the victim.” The main function of the hind jaws is to grind food and push it into the esophagus.

4. The interaction of a moray eel with another predatory inhabitant is very entertaining. underwater world- sea bass. More often, each of them goes hunting alone. Moray eel prefers to attack at night from an ambush, and sea ​​bass V daytime on open water, hiding in the corals. However, some of the moray eels that live in the Red Sea go hunting during the day, and even in tandem with the perch, which usually acts as the initiator; this happens in cases where the prey is too far away or takes refuge next to the moray eel’s refuge. First, the perch swims to the moray eel's burrow, and if it sees its owner's head exposed, it moves its head around in front of her nose, this action is an invitation to a joint hunt. If the predator agrees, the perch accompanies it to the victim and, shaking its head, indicates the direction. It’s easy for a moray eel to sneak inside for prey, and catching it isn’t difficult either. Next, the moray eel periodically gives food to its companion.

5. Very little is known about how the giant moray eel reproduces. A number of females gather together in shallow water, where they lay eggs, which are then fertilized by their males. Eggs can be carried over long distances by sea currents. Newly hatched moray eels eat zooplankton, and as they grow, they move to corals or other reef areas to escape sharks and other predators.

6. Moray eels are rarely eaten, so there is no targeted fishing for them. The ancient Romans highly valued moray eel meat for its specific taste. Nowadays, zoo lovers love to keep small moray eels in their aquariums.

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. Perhaps our attitude towards her will warm up, at least a little.

Moray eels (Muraena) belong to a genus of fish from the eel family (Muraenidae). About 200 species of moray eels live in the seas of the World Ocean. Most of them prefer 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.

A long, serpentine body, completely naked and devoid of scales, covered with mucus, which in some species is poisonous. The mucus helps the moray eel jump out of cover like an arrow when hunting, significantly reducing water resistance.

In addition, a body covered with a thick layer of mucus is easier to squeeze into narrow holes and crevices that moray eels use as shelter and homes.

The body color is camouflaged and matches the surrounding landscape. More often, moray eels are colored in dark brown or grayish tones with spots that form a kind of marble pattern on the body. There are also monochromatic and even white specimens.

Since the mouth of moray eels is of considerable size, it inner surface colored to match the color of the body, so as not to unmask the moray eel when it opens its mouth wide. And the mouth of moray eels is almost always open. By pumping water through its open mouth into the gill openings, the moray eel increases the access of oxygen to the body.

The head bears small round eyes, which give the moray eel an even more evil appearance. Behind the eyes there are small gill openings, which usually have a dark spot.

The anterior and posterior nasal openings of moray eels are located on the upper side of the snout - the first pair is represented by simple openings, while the second pair has the shape of tubes in some species, and leaves in others. If a moray eel “plugs” its nasal openings, it will not be able to find its prey.

Interesting feature moray eel – absence of tongue. Their powerful jaws are seated with 23-28 sharp fang-shaped or awl-shaped teeth, curved back, which helps moray eels hold caught prey.

Almost all moray eels have teeth arranged in one row. The exception is the Atlantic green moray eel, in which an additional row of teeth is located on the palatine bone.

Moray eels have long and extremely sharp teeth. In some species of moray eels, whose diet is dominated by armored animals - crustaceans, crabs, the teeth have a flattened shape. With such teeth it is easier to split and grind the durable protection of prey. Moray eels' teeth do not contain poison. The jaws of all moray eels are very powerful, 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 world's largest giant moray eel is Thyrsoidea macrura). One and a half meter individuals weigh on average 8-10 kg. Interestingly, males are smaller and “slimmer” than females. Here's the strong sex!, with a weight of up to 40 kg. Among moray eels there are also small species, the length of which does not exceed ten centimeters. The average size 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 marine animals and even sea ​​urchins.

They obtain food mainly at night. Lying in ambush, moray eels lie in wait for unwary prey, jumping out like an arrow if a potential victim appears within reach, and grabs it with its sharp teeth.
During the day, moray eels sit in their homes - crevices of rocks and corals, among large stones and other natural shelters and rarely hunt.

The sight of a moray eel dealing with its prey is quite unpleasant. She instantly tears her prey into small pieces with her long teeth and in a matter of moments only memories remain from the victim.

Moray eels can hunt not only from ambush. The favorite delicacy of most moray eels is octopus. In pursuit of this sedentary animal, the moray eel drives it into a “corner” - some kind of shelter or crevice and, poking its head towards its soft body, tears off piece by piece from it, starting with the tentacles, until it tears it into small pieces and eats without a trace.

Moray eels can swallow small prey whole, like snakes. When biting off a piece of the body from a large prey, the moray eel is often helped by its own tail, which, like a lever, increases the power of its jaws.

Nosed moray eels use a unique method of hunting. These relatively small representatives of moray eels are named so for the outgrowths above their upper jaw. These nasal projections, oscillating in the 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 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.

About the danger of moray eels for people in natural environment habitats exist different opinions. Some researchers consider it a fairly peaceful animal, using its teeth solely for the sake of protection from too annoying divers, others consider the moray eel to be extremely dangerous sea ​​creature. One way or another, there are many known cases of attacks and bites of people by moray eels.

Here are some of them.

In 1948, biologist I. Brock, who later became director of the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii, scuba dived near Johnston Island in Pacific Ocean at shallow depths. Before Brock was immersed in the water, a grenade was thrown - this was part of the research program that the biologist was engaged in. Noticing a large moray eel in the water and thinking that it had been killed by a grenade, Brock pierced it with a spear. However, the moray eel, which was 2.4 meters long, turned out to be far from dead: it rushed straight at the offender and grabbed his elbow. A moray eel, attacking a person, inflicts a wound that is similar to the bite mark of a barracuda. But unlike the barracuda, the moray eel does not immediately swim away, but hangs on its victim like a bulldog. Brock managed to rise to the surface and reach a boat waiting nearby. However, surgeons had to tinker with this wound for a long time, as it turned out to be very severe. The victim almost lost his arm.

Suffered from moray eel and famous crooner Dieter Bohlen (duet Modern Talking).

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, specialists even had to relocate a couple of moray eels from a reef popular among tourists (Old cod hole, Bolshoi barrier reef, 1996). While feeding, the fish tore the hand of a New Zealand diver so badly that it was impossible to save him.

Unfortunately, the moray eels died during transportation.

I think that the examples given will help novice divers assess the danger of encountering moray eels and take measures to prevent such cases.

These measures are simple - you should not provoke the moray eel into aggressive actions. Very rarely (usually exhausted by hunger) moray eels attack people for no reason.

Having seen a moray eel, you should not irritate this fish - approach its home, try to stroke it, and even more so - stick your hands into its shelter. Fans of spearfishing should not shoot into holes and crevices just to check whether there is a moray eel there. If she really lives there, she will certainly attack you. If you don't provoke her, she won't touch you.

There is no targeted fishing for moray eels. They are caught in single specimens for food consumption.
It should be noted that the meat and some organs of moray eels are different time years may contain toxic substances that cause severe stomach cramps and nerve damage. Therefore, you should study this issue in more detail before trying the taste of moray eel meat.

Sometimes moray eels are kept in large aquariums. The behavior of these predators in a confined space may be different. Often moray eels show extreme aggressiveness towards their neighbors in the aquarium, sometimes they are completely indifferent to their roommates. In captivity, moray eels can live more than ten years.

Moray eels, like everyone else predatory fish, are an important link in the ecological balance of the seas where they live. Therefore, their extermination negatively affects the health of the fauna of these regions.

In ancient times, therefore, moray eels were considered terrible monsters. 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 Caribbean and now moray eel ceviche is popular - a dish that is prepared in a very exotic and rather brutal way.

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. Characteristics 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 rhinomuraena (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 present at the tip. lower jaw. They can also eat crustaceans, but rarely.

Environment and lifestyle

Moray eels are exclusively marine life living in warm waters. Greatest species diversity these unique fish are 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 the query appears in search engines: “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. With 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 bottom-dwelling fish serve as food for moray eels; 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 people willing to fight with a large and fairly 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 fascinated by the appearance of moray eels - despite the often beautiful color of its body, the appearance of this fish is repulsive. The predatory look of small, prickly eyes, an unpleasant mouth with needle-like teeth, a snake-like body and the inhospitable character of moray eels are absolutely not conducive to friendly communication.
Let's try to get to know this fish, which is interesting and unique in its own way. Perhaps our attitude towards her will warm up, at least a little.
Moray eels (Muraena) belong to a genus of fish from the eel family (Muraenidae). About 200 species of moray eels live in the seas of the World Ocean. Most of them prefer the warm waters of tropical and subtropical zones. A frequent visitor to coral reefs and underwater rocks.
Quite often found in the Red Sea, they also live in the Mediterranean. The Red Sea is home to the snowflake moray, zebra moray, geometric moray, star moray, white-spotted moray, and elegant moray. The largest of them is the star moray eel, its average length reaches 180 cm.

The Mediterranean moray eel, which lives in the Mediterranean Sea, reaches 1.5 meters in length. It was her image that became the prototype for numerous legends and myths about these predatory fish with a rather unusual appearance. For permanent residence, they choose clefts in rocks, shelters in underwater stone rubble, in general, places where they can reliably hide a large and completely unprotected body. It lives mainly in the bottom layer of seas.

The body color is camouflaged and matches the surrounding landscape. More often, moray eels are colored in dark brown or grayish tones with spots that form a kind of marble pattern on the body. There are also monochromatic and even white specimens. Since the mouth of moray eels is of considerable size, its inner surface is colored to match the color of the body, so as not to unmask the moray eel when it opens its mouth wide. And the mouth of moray eels is almost always open. By pumping water through its open mouth into the gill openings, the moray eel increases the access of oxygen to the body.

The head bears small round eyes, which give the moray eel an even more evil appearance. Behind the eyes there are small gill openings, which usually have a dark spot. The anterior and posterior nasal openings of moray eels are located on the upper side of the snout - the first pair is represented by simple openings, while the second pair has the shape of tubes in some species, and leaves in others. If a moray eel “plugs” its nasal openings, it will not be able to find its prey. An interesting feature of moray eels is the absence of a tongue. Their powerful jaws are lined with 23-28 sharp fang-shaped or awl-shaped teeth, curved back, which helps moray eels hold caught prey. Almost all moray eels have teeth arranged in one row. The exception is the Atlantic green moray eel, in which an additional row of teeth is located on the palatine bone.

Moray eels have long and extremely sharp teeth. In some species of moray eels, whose diet is dominated by armored animals - crustaceans, crabs, the teeth have a flattened shape. With such teeth it is easier to split and grind the durable protection of prey. Moray eels' teeth do not contain poison. The jaws of all moray eels are very powerful and large. Moray eels have no pectoral fins, and the rest - the dorsal, anal and caudal fins - have fused into one train, framing the back of the body.

Moray eels can reach significant sizes. According to various sources, their length can be 2.5 or even more than 3 meters (the largest giant moray eel in the world is Thyrsoidea macrura). One and a half meter individuals weigh on average 8-10 kg. Interestingly, males are smaller and “slimmer” than females. Here's the strong sex!, with a weight of up to 40 kg. Among moray eels there are also small species, the length of which does not exceed ten centimeters. The average size of the moray eels most commonly encountered by divers is approximately one meter. As a rule, males are slightly smaller than females.

Moray eels reproduce using eggs. In the winter months, they gather in shallow water, where the eggs laid by the females are fertilized with the reproductive products of the males. The eggs and moray eel larvae that hatch from them move in the water by sea currents and are carried over a large area of ​​the sea. Moray eels are predators, their diet consists of various bottom animals - crabs, crustaceans, cephalopods, especially octopuses, small sea ​​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 its sharp teeth. During the day, moray eels sit in their homes - crevices of rocks and corals, among large stones and other natural shelters and rarely hunt. The sight of a moray eel dealing with its prey is quite unpleasant. She instantly tears her prey into small pieces with her long teeth and in a matter of moments only memories remain from the victim.

Moray eels can hunt not only from ambush. The favorite delicacy of most moray eels is octopus. In pursuit of this sedentary animal, the moray eel drives it into a “corner” - some kind of shelter or crevice and, poking its head towards its soft body, tears off piece by piece from it, starting with the tentacles, until it tears it into small pieces and eats without a trace. Moray eels can swallow small prey whole, like snakes. When biting off a piece of the body from a large prey, the moray eel is often helped by its own tail, which, like a lever, increases the power of its jaws. Nosed moray eels use a unique method of hunting. These relatively small representatives of moray eels are named so for the outgrowths above their upper jaw. These nasal projections, oscillating in the current of water, resemble sessile sea worms - polychaetes. The sight of “prey” attracts small fish, which very quickly find themselves prey to a hidden predator.

In search of food, moray eels, like most nocturnal predators, rely on their sense of smell. Their vision is poorly developed, and even at night it is a poor assistant in searching for food. A moray eel can sense its prey from a considerable distance. The notoriety of fish dangerous to humans has been attached to moray eels since ancient times. In ancient Rome, noble citizens often kept moray eels in pools, growing them for food - the meat of these fish was extremely valued due to their specific taste. Quickly assessing the ability of moray eels to be aggressive, noble Romans used them as a tool to punish offending slaves, and sometimes threw people into a tank with moray eels solely for the sake of entertainment. Indeed - oh, times!.. Oh, morals!.. Moray, 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.

There are different opinions about the danger of moray eels to people in their natural habitat. Some researchers consider it to be a fairly peaceful animal, using its teeth solely for the sake of protection from too annoying divers, while others consider the moray eel to be an extremely dangerous sea creature. One way or another, there are many known cases of attacks and bites of people by moray eels. Here are some of them. In 1948, biologist I. Brock, who later became director of the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii, was scuba diving near Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean at shallow depths. Before Brock was immersed in the water, a grenade was thrown - this was part of the research program that the biologist was engaged in. Noticing a large moray eel in the water and thinking that it had been killed by a grenade, Brock pierced it with a spear. However, the moray eel, which was 2.4 meters long, turned out to be far from dead: it rushed straight at the offender and grabbed his elbow. A moray eel, attacking a person, inflicts a wound that is similar to the bite mark of a barracuda. But unlike the barracuda, the moray eel does not immediately swim away, but hangs on its victim like a bulldog. Brock managed to rise to the surface and reach a boat waiting nearby. However, surgeons had to tinker with this wound for a long time, as it turned out to be very severe. The victim almost lost his arm.

The famous pop singer Dieter Bohlen (duet Modern Talking) also suffered from a moray eel. While diving near the Seychelles, a moray eel grabbed his leg, tearing the singer’s skin and muscles. After this incident, D. Bolen underwent surgery and spent a whole month in a wheelchair. Once, experts even had to relocate a pair of moray eels from a reef popular among tourists (Old cod hole, Great Barrier Reef, 1996). While feeding, the fish tore the hand of a New Zealand diver so badly that it was impossible to save him. Unfortunately, the moray eels died during transportation.

I think that the examples given will help novice divers assess the danger of encountering moray eels and take measures to prevent such cases. These measures are simple - you should not provoke the moray eel into aggressive actions. Very rarely (usually exhausted by hunger) moray eels attack people for no reason. Having seen a moray eel, you should not irritate this fish - approach its home, try to stroke it, and even more so - stick your hands into its shelter. Fans of spearfishing should not shoot into holes and crevices just to check whether there is a moray eel there. If she really lives there, she will certainly attack you. If you don't provoke her, she won't touch you.

There is no targeted fishing for moray eels. They are caught in single specimens for food consumption. It should be noted that the meat and some organs of moray eels at different times of the year may contain toxic substances that cause severe stomach cramps and nerve damage. Therefore, you should study this issue in more detail before trying the taste of moray eel meat.

Sometimes moray eels are kept in large aquariums. The behavior of these predators in a confined space may be different. Often moray eels show extreme aggressiveness towards their neighbors in the aquarium, sometimes they are completely indifferent to their roommates. In captivity, moray eels can live more than ten years. Moray eels, like all predatory fish, are an important part of the ecological balance of the seas where they live. Therefore, their extermination negatively affects the health of the fauna of these regions.

In ancient times, therefore, moray eels were considered terrible monsters. Back then they believed in huge sea monsters capable of swallowing a whole ship. And this ability was attributed, in particular, to moray eels. Later in history, there were cases where they were trained to attack humans. But all this has never stopped people from hunting moray eels. It is eaten and considered a delicacy, although its meat can be very poisonous. The ancient Romans kept moray eels in special pens to prepare them for feasts. They were a terrible execution for slaves. This is such a strange food chain. In the Caribbean, moray eel ceviche is still popular - a dish that is prepared in a very exotic and rather brutal way.