Pelican eel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pelican eel |
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| The mouth of the pelican eel can open wide enough to swallow prey much larger than the eel itself | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Anguilliformes |
| Family: | Eurypharyngidae Gill, 1883 |
| Genus: | Eurypharynx Vaillant, 1882 |
| Species: |
E. pelecanoides
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| Binomial name | |
| Eurypharynx pelecanoides Vaillant, 1882
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| Synonyms | |
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Gastrostomus pacificus |
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The pelican eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) is a truly unique deep-sea eel. It's famous for its incredibly huge mouth, which looks a lot like a pelican's pouch. This amazing creature lives in the very deep parts of the ocean, far below where sunlight can reach. It's the only known member of its group, the Eurypharynx genus and the Eurypharyngidae family. People also call it the gulper eel or umbrella-mouth gulper because of its distinctive mouth.
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Amazing Features of the Pelican Eel
Studying pelican eels is quite a challenge. They are so delicate that they often get damaged when brought up from the deep ocean. The immense pressure of their habitat makes them very fragile. Despite this, scientists have learned many interesting things about their physical traits.
The Giant Mouth
The most striking feature of the pelican eel is its mouth. It is much, much larger than its entire body! This mouth is loosely hinged. It can open wide enough to swallow a fish much bigger than the eel itself. The lower jaw connects right at the base of its head. This makes its head look huge compared to the rest of its body. In fact, its jaw is estimated to be about a quarter of the eel's total length.
Normally, the pelican eel's mouth is folded. But when it hunts, it can change into an inflated shape. This makes its mouth look massive! This transformation happens in two steps. First, the mouth structure unfolds and spreads out horizontally. Then, the mouth inflates. This inflation is possible because the skin on its head is super stretchy. This allows the eel to lunge forward and eat large amounts of prey. When it takes in water with its food, the water is then pushed out through its gills.
Body and Other Adaptations
Pelican eels are not very large. They typically grow to about 0.75 m (2.5 ft) long. Some might even reach 1 m (3 ft 3 in). Like most eels, they do not have pelvic fins or scales. However, the pelican eel looks very different from typical eels in other ways. Instead of a swim bladder, it has special jelly-filled spaces around its backbone. Scientists think these spaces help it float, similar to how a swim bladder works. Its muscle segments are also unique, shaped like a "V" instead of the usual "W" found in other fish.
Unlike many other deep-sea creatures, the pelican eel has very small eyes. For example, a male pelican eel's eye might be only 2.6 mm (0.10 in) wide. Scientists believe these eyes help them detect faint traces of light, rather than forming clear images.
The Glowing Tail
The pelican eel has a long, whip-like tail. It uses this tail for movement. It also uses it for communication through bioluminescence. The very end of its tail has a complex organ with many tentacles. This organ glows pink and gives off occasional red flashes. These colors are displayed by light-emitting cells called photophores. This glowing tail is likely a lure to attract prey. It's interesting because the lure is at the opposite end of its body from its mouth!
Super Black Camouflage
Pelican eels are usually black or olive in color. Some might even have a thin white stripe along their side. Their skin is incredibly dark. It reflects less than 0.5% of light. This "ultra-black camouflage" helps them disappear in the dark deep-sea environment. This special black color allows these eels to hide from predators and sneak up on prey.
Finding a Mate
Male and female pelican eels show sexual dimorphism. This means they have different physical features. The biggest difference is in their noses. Female pelican eels have hardly noticeable noses. Male pelican eels, however, have larger, bulb-shaped noses with bigger nostrils. This difference is thought to help them find a mate in the dark bathypelagic zone. Males might use their enlarged noses to smell special chemicals (pheromones) released by females.
How the Pelican Eel Finds Food
Pelican eels have developed special ways to find food. This helps them survive in their deep-sea home, where food is scarce. Studies show that pelican eels actively hunt for food. They don't just wait for prey to fall into their huge mouths. Scientists believe they lunge forward, expanding their jaws to catch prey.
Their stomach can stretch and expand to hold large meals. However, studies of their stomach contents suggest they mostly eat small crustaceans. Despite their huge jaws, which take up about a quarter of their body length, they only have tiny teeth. This means they don't usually eat large fish.
The large mouth might be an adaptation to help the eel eat a wider variety of prey. This is especially useful when food is hard to find. The eel can swim into groups of shrimp or other crustaceans with its mouth closed. Then, it opens wide as it gets close, scooping them up to be swallowed. Pelican eels also eat cephalopods (like squid) and other small invertebrates. When the eel eats, it also takes in a lot of water. This water is then slowly pushed out through its gill slits. Pelican eels themselves are preyed upon by lancetfish and other deep-sea predators.
Baby Eels and Their First Meals
When pelican eels are first born, they are in the leptocephalus stage. This means they are extremely thin and transparent. Until they become juveniles, they have small organs and no red blood cells. These baby eels feed on "marine snow." Marine snow is made of tiny bits of dead plants, animals, and other particles that drift down from the ocean surface. Their special teeth help them consume these grouped particles. As they grow, their teeth change, becoming more numerous and smaller. This change in teeth helps them shift to eating bigger prey as they mature.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Not much is known about the reproductive habits of the pelican eel. Like other eels, they start as tiny, transparent larvae called leptocephali.
As they mature, male eels undergo significant changes. Their olfactory organs, which are responsible for their sense of smell, become much larger. Their teeth and jaws also shrink. The males also develop clear reproductive organs. In one male studied, the testes filled most of its stomach cavity, and its stomach seemed to have shrunk. Female eels, on the other hand, remain relatively unchanged as they mature. The large olfactory organs in sexually mature males suggest they might locate mates using pheromones released by females. Many researchers believe that these eels die shortly after reproduction. Reproducing later in life is thought to be a strategy that increases the chances of their offspring surviving.
Where Pelican Eels Live
The pelican eel has been found in the temperate and tropical areas of all oceans. In the North Atlantic, it lives at depths from 500 to 3,000 m (1,600 to 9,800 ft). One specimen was found near the Canadian Arctic, in Davis Strait, at a depth of 1,136–1,154 m (3,727–3,786 ft). They have also been spotted off the coast of Portugal and near the Hawaiian islands.
Pelican Eels and People
Because pelican eels live so deep, we rarely see them. Most of what we know comes from eels accidentally caught in deep-sea fishing nets. Before 1970, they were thought to be very rare. But since then, hundreds have been caught, mostly in the Atlantic Ocean.
In October 2018, researchers near the Azores saw a gulper eel in its natural habitat for the first time! They watched it actively hunting, moving around to find food. In September 2018, another team saw a young gulper eel inflating its mouth to catch prey. These observations helped scientists understand their behavior much better.
Family Tree: Related Species
In 2003, scientists studied the DNA of pelican eels and a related species called Saccopharynx lavenbergi. They found that these two deep-sea eels are closely related. They are also genetically distinct from other types of anguilliformes. This helps us understand how they fit into the larger family tree of fish.
See also
In Spanish: Pez pelícano para niños
