Moray Eel

hello everyone welcome back to relax with animal facts I am Steph wolf and today I am going to be learning with you about our furry scaly or possibly even slimy friends and in today's case I cannot think of an animal that more fits into this slimy category because we are covering the %HESITATION so wonderful more a deal this is a very special listener episode dedicated to Tiffany who wrote in and requested this magnificent creature so I hope you enjoy your episode Tiffany and thank you for taking the time to write in if you want to learn about the creature that you find interesting and also would like your very own podcast episode you can do so by sending a message to relax with animal facts on Instagram or by going to relax with animal facts dot com and clicking on the animal request tab or you can send an email to relax with animal facts at the G. mail dot com and before I see where I got my facts from if you love the show and want more of it the patriarch page relax with animal facts has two series currently going on right now and the series include exclusive episodes of mythical creatures and extinct creatures so if you want to learn about the dodo the mammoth or the Griffin you can go to the patron that is linked in the description or just search up a tree on dot com slash relax with animal facts all of the resources used in this episode R. in the description or the show notes so if you would like to explore more about the more E. O. or about any other creature be sure to explore those to your heart's content and now we're going to begin to slow down just a little bit I want all of you to notice maybe where you are carrying some tension the most commonly held places of tension or in the shoulders or in the head but for you it might be in the hands as it always is for me it might be in the legs who knows everyone is truly different in this way but there is one thing that is for sure and it is that we do not need all of that tension where we are going and so I encourage you to right along side be tried to relax those parts of your body and simply allow your mind to join me on this journey today we are strapping on our scuba gear because we are going to be diving down deep into the tropical waters where the more E. il resides today we are paddling down deep into the temperate waters and what we were approaching is nature's elegant Macy's and that is the coral reef and we can see all of the ocean life here carrying on as if we were not even there the fish swim near and by but what we are here for is that large head that is popping out of the crevice of this wonderful coral reef this creature is the more a eagle it is part of a family of eagles that is distinguished from others by their very large heads there for windshield jaws and their coloration that can be mesmerizing or hypnotizing we will get into all of those facts in just a second but we want to be just a little bit more general here as the top the more E. O. is any of E. T. or more species of eagles that comprise the family Murai any day these eagles will be in nearly all tropical and subtropical areas where they will be living among reefs and rocks which they most gladly proclaim as home now what distinguishes them from afar may be that very large head and maybe those gaping wide jaws but they also differ in having small rounded gill openings and they well in general lack pectoral fins pictorial is an end to them or really the opposite of dorsal so if a dorsal fin is on the back of a creature the pectoral fin is on the front of the creature and this is something that the more E. il generally lacks the reason we could call this creature a slimy friend of ours is because their skin is very smooth scaleless and very thick but right now all that we can see is their head outside of this coral reef they're very large head may be in view but we have no idea what is going on deeper in that maze of the coral reef but I had a good feeling that we will find out soon enough the more E. L. has a mouth that is very wide and jaws that are equipped with teeth that are strong and sharp allowing them to hunt very efficiently to seize and not only sees but hold on to their prey once their prey is in their jaws it is fairly unlikely that they will be able to get out now while today this more E. old does not even know that we are here in general more AP ills attack humans only when they are disturbed but the goal is of course to not to disturb them at all so if you were in real life to go on some kind of cruise or catamaran and you had an opportunity to scuba dive getting up very close and personal with the more E. O. is not a very good idea but as we are fluttering about here they can look maybe even a bit silly I've read somewhere that the more eagle always looks as if they have just told the joke and are waiting for a reaction perhaps they have told some really awful dad joke and their emails or wide gaping open just waiting to see what the response will be I am quite sure that many of us have undergone this tragedy and the more E. O. simply replicates the face of that sinister father who has cracked a bad joke the most deadly form of this joke is when you say that you were hungry and the response you were given is hi hungry I'm dad in which zooms a silence that is all encompassing and that you'll certainly captures that expression but moving on the more E. il certainly looks dangerous because of their constant posture of having these exposed mouth and teeth but this action is not actually a hostile one they do this because this is the way that the brief their mouth is agape to allow this process to happen and unlike us where we can normally agree through our nose the more E. old does not have this option while at rest they will constantly open and close their jaws it is common for many other fish to have these bony kill covers that are on their sides and by constantly opening and shutting these water is forced over the internal killed chamber which allows the creature to breed the more E. O. however has no such thing so they have to manually and orally pump down water in very large gulps or not breeze at all and of course dye said this is not a defensive or aggressive form of posturing as we're here looking at this beautiful creature but it is simply the mechanism they need to greet and now this more E. O. is for a moment coming out of its crevice it is likely going to look for a different spot in the coral to call home but as they're coming out of this hole you'll notice that for some seconds it seems as though there was a trick going on there is more and more you'll then perhaps you would think this particular moray eel is the thirst so idea mac crews as we are today swimming in the Pacific Ocean and to this creature is known to grow about three and a half meters that's about eleven and a half feet long in general the more E. il will not exceed a length of about five feet or one and a half meters but today we are looking at the true gargantuan of the more E. L. so this deal coming out of this quarrel crevice seems to be pouring out like a liquid there is so much of this deal that is hidden beneath the surface the biggest mores can weigh more than sixty six pounds that being more than thirty kilos and now that this mori is out in the open we can get a much better look at this mesmerizing pattern if you watch any documentaries that sport the more E. L. you are sure to be shown a variety of patterns and have a greater grasp of the sheer size of this deal there are spotted morays green zebra honey comb snowflake and many other patterns and colors that the more E. L. sport it's the green it more E. all which has the scientific name given authorities for memories is actually blue but it has a coating that is this slimy yellow substance that makes them a pure green said this is how the blue more AP ill becomes the green moray eel simply through this slimy yellow coating either way the green moray eel is seen most commonly in that green color and so I have no problem with this distinction mores will generally come out at night to feed but today will preferred those small spaces and hiding places in rocks and caves during the day and when they do feed they will eat all sorts of fish cephalopods and crustaceans they do have to be careful because they are not the apex predators of the area and will sometimes be targeted by recruiters sharks sea snakes and groupers all of these predators are fairly large which makes the hiding in the coral reefs a perfect solution for this ad Gile and slippery creature into each of these fish and crustaceans and cephalopods they will use something that is very unique to them and that is there for NGO jaws they have a second set of teeth in the back of their throat that can come forward when it comes to grasping prey so they have not to just one set but two sets of teeth so this second set of teeth this second draw will be used like a ballistic weapon thrashing out quickly to catch their prey and these are how most in the eagles throat ready to come out when ever pray comes near now the teeth is that we're seeing on this moray is curved and gives them that really ideal way of snagging up fish and ensuring that they don't escape but there are a few varieties like the zebra moray for example that will prefer to dine on crabs mollusks clams and sea urchins and of course many of these are not exactly soft all mores seem to have very strong jaws but certain mores will have these specialized teeth that are more blunt than some of the other species especially the one that we're covering today mores are eaten in some of the areas of the world the more Ryan %HESITATION Helena which is found in the Mediterranean was a delicacy of the ancient Romans but it is important to note that they can often times be toxic the reason this is the case is because of a mechanism known as bio accumulation over time predators three tend to accumulate the toxins from the foods that they ingest there can be fish for example that are entirely herbivorous in their diet meaning they eat no other fish or insects but these strictly herbivorous fish can accumulate toxins from the algae that they eat and as these toxins move up the food chain for example if a herbivorous fishes full of certain toxins from algae and then is eaten by a bigger fish and then that fish is eaten by a larger fish the concentration of the toxicity increases each time in fact there is a documented case in which one more rate you'll poison to nearly sixty people who had a piece so while the ancient Romans seemed to cultivate these more radials as a delicacy it is mostly best to stay away more AP also in general tend to enjoy their alone time they don't tend to share their space very well and will even attack members of the same species if provoked but there are times in which there is an amazing interaction between the moray eel and another fish that other fish is a grouper sometimes giant mores will join forces with another predator and often times it is with that specific grouper fish the group %HESITATION will invite this mori out onto their special planned hunting trip it seems as though the way they come to this agreement is through a series of head shakes being initiated by the group for their hunting pattern will be one in which the get into a formation the group or it will take the high ground with the moray staying pretty low end near those craggy reefs to be able to maneuver through if the prey gets away from the grouper so with the group %HESITATION at the top and the moray eel lower down it makes a tremendously difficult for these smaller fish to hide it is beneficial because at least one of them will get a meal this is a kind of symbiotic relationship from the root words that we have learned already on the show maybe we could break that down that route toward S. Y. M. C. M. is a prefix that is usually attached to things that are done in the same way are done in unison or together and the biotic comes from Baio's which means life so we see this cooperation happening between living species and what makes symbiotic relationships so great in nature is that the benefit to both of the creatures this is in stark contrast to a different sort of relationship that is known as parasitic this is where one creature will reap the benefits at the other's expense but in the case of the grouper and the giant amore they have no problem joining forces and all it takes is a simple few head shakes and the hunt is on now we are going to go to the last few facts of the episode which regard the name moray eel where does it come from or what does it mean we're first going to break down that word you'll it is a word that is not specific to the more E. O. there are many other species and so I think it is a good one to cover the difficulty here with this word is that after going through transformations of proto Germanic old Friesian middle Dutch old Saxon all the way back to Old Norse we end up hitting a dead end this word is of an entirely unknown origin as of today but what we do know is that it was used figuratively for slippery ness from at least the fifteen twenties language can be just as slippery as the word you'll implies language goes through natural progressions and sometimes there is not enough extant evidence to be able to piece all of those transformations together and in the case of the name eagle we have no idea and then we go to the word moray moray refers to a tropical you'll like fish from as early as the sixteen twenties if we remember from an earlier fact we note that the ancient Romans eight the more E. il and so it would make sense if they had some sort of word for it and they most certainly did it comes from the Latin word more Raina which means C. E. O. or lamb pray and that links back to a Greek word Severina or small rose that means C. E. il so the more a is a lot easier for us to track because of its prevalence in ancient history especially with the Goliath civilizations of the Greeks and the Romans now let us move on to the review portion of the episode this is where I read a review from one of your very special listeners out there and in today's case we are reading one from Froggy Mickey who has a great name and is writing all the way from the United States of America and Froggy rights Steph wolf has an incredibly soothing voice and speech patterns I dare anyone to stay awake while listening to this the material is intriguing and makes one want to keep listening but Mr wolf exudes a level of serenity which cannot be resisted thank you for all of you for the very combine and for the very well crafted review I am so glad Froggy that you enjoy the show and %HESITATION so confident in its ability to put people to sleep that you not only you some very kind words to describe the show but even provoked and dare anyone to even try to stay awake during it now I am aware of many of you who decided not to sleep but rather soft untold preferred to stay wide awake during the whole thing all I have to say is that I am so grateful that I host a show in which whether I am making people fall asleep or to be wide awake that they are both a good thing normally if somebody's podcast was putting you to sleep that would be a problem but I do not have to worry about that if you want to leave a review like frog you did I absolutely encourage you to do so if the show has helped you and you want to help it grow with feedback and with reviews your generosity does not go on on noticed in fact we just passed three hundred reviews worldwide I cannot tell all of you how much your reviews have helped mold shape and grow the show the very fact that we change the format for example was because of reviews that were very critical and very helpfully critical and so that is why feedback from you guys is so important to me if you wish to continue maybe in these very waters to see a creature that we don't see any more that being the megalodon the patriotic page relax with animal facts has a bunch of exclusive episodes that are only available to patrons including episodes of an extinct animal miniseries mythical creatures such as the Griffin and maybe even the unicorn you can get access to all of these while supporting the show with any amount and for all of your support I am very grateful again if you would like to send a request in to the show or just to reach out to say how much you like the show or don't like it you can send a message to relax with animal facts on Instagram you can submit through the relax with animal facts dot com website by clicking on the animal request tab and you can always send an email directly to relax with animal facts at G. mail dot com what a wonderful time it has been learning about the moray eel with you I have to say that my respect for this creature has only increased all the more it is possible that you had not heard of the more E. O. before this episode but I hope it prompts you to learn more and to really dive deep into maybe a lot of other sea creatures that are looking around and %HESITATION just awaiting your discovery I hope that you will all join me on the next podcast episode with the next animal take care