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Moray Eel — printable fact sheet
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Moray Eel
Muraenidae
Morays are the only animals known to hunt with a second, mobile set of jaws deep in the throat. Because a moray lives in a crevice, it cannot do what most fish do and create suction by rapidly expanding its mouth — there is no room to gulp a bolus of water. Instead, its pharynge…
Did you know?
- Despite their intimidating look, moray eels have poor eyesight and rely heavily on their keen sense of smell to find prey.
- Giant morays in the Red Sea have been documented hunting cooperatively with roving coral groupers, which shake their heads at the eel to recruit it and even point out crevices where prey is hiding — a rare case of interspecies cooperative hunting between fish. Moray blood contains a toxin that is haemolytic if injected, which is why the fish is safer eaten cooked than raw. The knotting behaviour of some morays — tying the body into a loop and pulling the head back through it — is used to generate leverage and tear chunks from prey too large to swallow.
What I learned
Draw the moray eel
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