Terrifying New Trait Discovered in Moray Eels

Science is an intriguing and ever-changing field. Biology in particular is currently in its most exciting and interesting era. New theories are being formed and existing ones are constantly being challenged and improved. New discoveries are being made everyday. Among the latest of these discoveries is the second arrangement of jaws located in the throat of the moray eel.

Anyone who has seen the legendary film Alien is familiar with the terrifying celestial monster that harbored a second set of jaws located in its throat... jaws that ferociously darted forward when the extraterrestrial was claiming a victim. Believe it or not, scientists have just recently noted that same horrifying trait in the moray eel.

Moray eel is a collective term used to refer to approximately 110 different eel species. They belong to the family Muraenidae and the order Anguilliformes. They are part of a group that is known as ray-finned fish. Members of this group typically consume their prey via suction. The mouth cavities of these creatures expand and the prey is then sucked into their mouths.

Very recently, scientists have discovered that moray eels feed in a very different way than fellow ray-finned fish. After closely observing the feeding habits of the moray eel, scientists Rita Mehta and Peter Wainwright have discovered a second set of jaws in these mysterious and fascinating creatures. These eels do not use suction to ensnare their prey, instead they use their first set of jaws to grasp the prey at which point the second set (the pharyngeal jaws- jaws located in the throat of an organism) darts out and pulls the prey into the esophagus.

It is possible that this unique feature is an evolutionary adaptation. For a creature to expand its head and mouth cavity to allow suction to occur it must have strong bones and muscles; moray eels lack these traits which implies that they would not be successful in feeding via the traditional suction method which is typical of other ray-finned fish. In addition, eels tend to feed in very tight and constricted areas; such areas cannot not provide the necessary space for expansion.

Rita Mehta was not the first to notice this trait. Scientists had discovered this fascinating development in the 1960s. This discovery was published at the time, but nothing ever came of it. It took four decades for someone to make the same observation and continue researching and studying it. It just goes to show that as advanced as we are as human beings, there is still so much that we do not know.