From kelp greenling to rockfish, hungry ocean dwellers have no qualms about feasting on the newborn competition. The unguarded youth are often swallowed up by a variety of predators as they drift along their currents. Unfortunately for the wolffish, its offspring is far easier to catch. Harbor seals in Northern California have been observed sneaking into their caves and ripping wolf eel out with abandon. Wolf eels are wise to remain undercover much of the time, but not every predator is stymied by their retreat. “They like to hide - that’s part of what they do,” said Reid. While wolf eels have hearty appetites, they aren’t the only ones - those that hunt them are just as hungry. Sea otters, like all sea turtles, can catch wolf eels as long as they are still in their eggs. otters are said to eat eels in addition to them. The otters can digest eels in a way that is unique to them. Snatching them into their gullets, they clamp down with their jaws to destroy the shells and swallow the animals whole. eels in the summer) and frogs, small birds, and eggs are the primary sources of nutrition for our native otter in the wild. They have long, eel-like bodies and are sometimes known as wolf eels but. The adults, meanwhile, essentially crush their enemies in half.įlickr/Eva Funderburgh Wolf eel have an average lifespan of 25 years.Ī mature wolf eel seeks out hard-shelled invertebrates like crabs, sea urchins, and sand dollars. Cold temperate to subpolar north Atlantic Ocean. A young specimen has yet to grow its molars, however, and focuses primarily on catching small fish with their snaggle-toothed canines. Striking at their prey is done in the same manner that swimming is - a wolf eel coils into an S-shape to lunge forward. While the young begin their feeding as 1.6-inch larvae that consume zooplankton while drifting on currents, active hunts with their jaws and canines begin within days. It essentially curves into an S-shape to push forward across the sea. Not unlike a snake on the ground, the wolf eel uses its body to propel itself forward. It may be a vicious-looking eel, but it totally has the opposite temperament.” Threats To The Wolf Eel’s Future “Their jaws are very strong and if you got your finger in there you’d regret it. “They’ve got faces only a mother could love,” said Scott Reid of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Are Wolf Eels Dangerous?įlickr/California Department of Fish and Wildlife A wolf eel in its cave. While many people across this third of the globe might find themselves terrified by the wolf eel, these gentle giants are not what they seem. And unlike its cousins, the wolf eel slithers through a vast swathe of the Pacific, from the waters of Northern California and the Bering Sea to the Sea of Japan. However, these monsters of the deep are much friendlier than you’d ever think - and they aren’t actually eels at all.Ĭontrary to popular belief, the wolf eel ( Anarrhichthys ocellatus) belongs to the wolffish family, though this particular specimen is notably longer than its relatives. One of the most terrifying of these is the wolf eel of the North Pacific - a remarkably ugly creature that can grow up to eight feet long and sports powerful jaws and sharp teeth. They have been found at depths up to 226 m (740 ft).Despite its monstrous jaws and teeth, the wolf eel is actually a gentle giant that’s even known to cuddle with divers.įew beasts strike more fear into the hearts of humans than those that make their homes in the unknown darkness. They often occupy only one den, unless they are driven out by a larger wolf eel or a large octopus. Adults live on the bottom, usually among rocks in subtidal areas. This species ranges from the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan to the Krenitzen Islands, in the Aleutian chain, and to Imperial Beach, southern California. Age at maturity occurs at 4 to 7 years, suggesting these may be long-lived fish. The maximum lifespan of a wolf eel is not known. Wolf can grow up to 240 cm (7.87 ft) in length, and 18.4 kg (40.5 lbs) in weight. Young wolf eel are often orangish with dark areas merging into stripes at the rear of the body. This species has up to 233 soft anal fin rays. Its dorsal fin is long and has flexible spines and no soft rays. This species lacks pelvic fins and has no lateral line. Larger wolf eels tend to be more mottled. It has dark round spots with pale rings along the body and fins. Color dominance tends to vary between male and female wolf eel with, the females being brown and the males being dominantly grey. The body is mostly gray to brown and sometimes greenish.
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