Wolf eel dangerous update#

With elongated slender bodies, large heads and intimidating jaws, wolf eels were named for their superficial resemblance to eels and wolves. They are dedicated parents, with both partners guarding the eggs and their territory.Snuggled within the cracks and crevices of the Pacific coasts rocky reefs lies two lovers in hiding. Wolf eels also form one of the sweetest pairings in the sea: they mate for life and huddle together in a rocky cave or crevice. It’s not aggressive like its sharp teeth suggest, but generally gentle. It’s not an eel, but a long, slender fish. While not a true eel (eels have no pectoral fins), wolfies are actually a fish with an elongated body and are referred to by scientists as a “wolf-fish”.ĭon’t judge a book by its cover with wolf eels. When lured out of their dens in search of their favorite food (Sea Urchins), this impressive fish is a sight to behold, growing to a maximum length of 8’. They can often be spotted peering out of the many crevices and holes in popular local dive sites. The friendly, but fierce looking wolf-eel is a favorite of Pacific Northwest divers.

The eel-like fish can grow up to 8 feet in length and subsists on a diet of sea urchins, mussels, and clams, which it can eat thanks to its powerful jaws: In fact, these friendly fish are a favorite among scuba divers. The wolf eel may be scary looking and may have a powerful bite, but these fish aren’t aggressive. It will attempt to bite whatever it can – even its own wriggling body.

As seen in the below video, the body will reflexively writhe for a time after being cut off the brain – but the head itself can remain “alive”, and likely on the defensive because of the pain of being chopped. This is how some cold-blooded, or ectothermic, animals are able to survive conditions without oxygen for periods of time.Īnd it’s why snakes (and other reptiles) continue to move after being bisected. Because their bodies aren’t generating their own heat, their energy and oxygen requirements are lower. Snakes and other cold-blooded animals such as fish and amphibians, on the other hand, don’t thermoregulate internally, instead relying on outside sources for warmth. And a decapitated venomous snake head is evidently pre-programmed to bite in response to a stimulus-such as a someone trying to pick it up, he said. The mechanism behind this eerie behavior is a nervous system pre-programmed to make certain movements without the brain needing to send a signal. It’s a similar reflex to that of a headless chicken being able to run around for a short time, Jayne says. The bodies of snakes often writhe around for some time after they are dead, says Bruce Jayne, a biology professor at the University of Cincinnati. In June 2018, after a man in Texas was bitten by a decapitated rattlesnake head, National Geographic and Science Alert penned articles explaining the phenomena: It’s likely that the fish’s nerve endings were still functioning, and that pressure near its jaw triggered a muscle spasm. The original video shows that this fish was decapitated just before a Coke can was pushed into its jaws. While some viewers hypothesized that this fish head was still alive when this video was filmed, it’s likely that the footage shows an involuntary muscle reflex. The original video also provides some insight into how and why this decapitated fish head bit down on a can of Coca-Cola.

Wolf eel dangerous update#

We’ve reached out to the Marine Conservation Institute to confirm and will update this article when more information becomes available. One reason for the confusion may relate to this fish’s nickname, the “ ocean catfish.” We compared stills from the GIF with photographs and believe that the marine creature featured in this video is indeed a wolf eel. Head of a wolf eel that can bite you even after the head is detached from the body. Coke,” but the marine species in the video is labeled a “wolf eel” and a “catfish wolf eel” in the description:ĭon’t stick your hand into the mouth of a dead fish – even after you chop the things head off. Filmmaker Rúni Djurhuus titled the footage “Catfish vs. The original video appears to have been taken aboard a commercial fishing ship. The above-displayed GIF comes from a longer video that was posted to YouTube in January 2019.