Scott Reid from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Body Features of Wolf Eels They've got faces only a mother could love. It might in fact be doing this, but it's more likely that it's trying to obtain enough oxygen from the water.Īlaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain image Because a moray often opens its mouth very wide during respiration, people who don't know how the fish breathes sometimes think that it's preparing to bite when they see it.They have to rhythmically open their mouth in a gaping motion to allow sufficient water to flow into their mouth, over the gills (which extract oxygen from the water), and out through the gill opening on each side of their body. Unlike many bony fish, moray eels have no gill covers on the surface of their body.The eel's visitors get food, and the eel gets a cleaning, so everyone benefits (except the parasite). These are areas where an eel allows certain fish and shrimp to pick parasites off its body. At least some morays visit cleaning stations.They usually ambush their prey and catch animals such as fish, crabs, shrimp, and octopuses.

Although their eyesight is poor, the fish have a good sense of smell.They are probably unable to tell where a piece of food ends and where a person's fingers begin. Some morays have bitten off human fingers when people have tried to feed them, but this is most likely due to the bad eyesight of the fish.Simon Frazer, 11th Lord Lovat: The Last Person Beheaded in Britain More Facts About Moray Eels

Wolf eel aquarium