There’s more to moray eels than meets the eye. Here are some fun facts you might not know about these slippery critters.
Lazaro RudaA green moray eel
• Green morays from the Caribbean are actually brown, but a yellow mucus covering makes them appear green.
• Morays rely on a highly developed sense of smell rather than sight to locate prey.
• To breathe, moray eels continually open and close their mouth to flush oxygen-rich water over their gills.
Daniel ZupnacA transparent ribbon-like larvae, known as leptocephali
• Morays and other eels, along with closely allied tarpon and bonefish, produce pelagic, transparent ribbon-like larvae, known as leptocephali.
• Moray eels are really fish.
• Morays have a set of jaws in their throats that thrusts forward to pull captured prey back into their esophaguses.
Reinhard DirscherlA spotted moray eel at a cleaning station.
• The moray eel, highly susceptible to parasitic infestations, spends much of its time at cleaning stations having the microscopic bloodsuckers picked from its body.
• Some morays tie themselves into a knot when attempting to swallow large prey.
Jürgen FreundA moray eel on the hunt
• As long as their skin remains damp, crab-hunting chain morays can stay out of the water for 30 minutes at a time.
