Wolf eel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wolf eel |
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| Wolf eel in Puget Sound | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Scorpaeniformes |
| Family: | Anarhichadidae |
| Genus: | Anarrhichthys Ayres, 1855 |
| Species: |
A. ocellatus
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| Binomial name | |
| Anarrhichthys ocellatus Ayres, 1855
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| Synonyms | |
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The wolf eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) is a fascinating marine fish. It lives in the North Pacific Ocean. Even though it's called a "wolf eel" and looks like an eel, it's actually a type of ray-finned fish. It belongs to the family called Anarhichadidae, also known as wolf fishes. This unique fish is the only species in its special group, or genus, named Anarrhichthys.
Contents
Discovering the Wolf Eel
The wolf eel was first officially described in 1855 by an American scientist named William Orville Ayres. He found it near San Francisco Bay in California. Ayres also created the special group, or genus, Anarrhichthys, just for this fish. This genus is one of two in the wolf fish family.
What's in a Name?
The name Anarrhichthys comes from two parts. Anarhichas is the name for other wolf fishes, because the wolf eel has a similar head shape. Ichthys means "fish." So, it's like a "wolf-headed fish." The second part of its scientific name, ocellatus, means "like an eye." This refers to the eye-like spots you can see on its back fin and body.
All About the Wolf Eel's Body
Wolf eels are different from true eels in a few ways. They have paired gill slits and fins on their chests, called pectoral fins. These fish can grow very large, up to 2.4 meters (about 8 feet) long. They can also weigh up to 18.4 kilograms (about 40 pounds).
How Wolf Eels Look
Young wolf eels are bright orange with large dark spots on their back half. As they get older, their color changes. They become grey, brownish-grey, or dark olive green.
Special Features of the Wolf Eel
Wolf eels have very strong jaws. They use these jaws to crush their prey. They have sharp canine teeth in the front of their mouth. Further back, they have flat molars for grinding.
They have a single dorsal fin that runs from their head all the way to their tail. This fin has 228 to 250 flexible bones. Their tail fin is small. Wolf eels do not have pelvic fins, which are like the back fins on many fish. They also lack a lateral line, which is a sensory organ found in most fish.
Male wolf eels have bigger lips and a bump on the top of their heads. These amazing fish can live for about 20 years.
The Wolf Eel Life Cycle
Wolf eels often form a pair for life. They tend to live together in the same cave. They start having babies when they are around seven years old. Their breeding season is from October until the end of winter.
Family Life and Raising Young
During mating, the male wraps around the female. She then lays up to 10,000 eggs at once, which the male fertilizes. The female coils her body around the eggs. She shapes them into a neat ball, about the size of a grapefruit. The male then coils around her, and they both protect the eggs. Only one parent leaves the cave at a time to find food.
The eggs hatch after 91 to 112 days. While waiting, the female makes sure the eggs get enough oxygen. She moves water around them and gently massages and rotates them as they grow.
Where Wolf Eels Live and What They Do
Where to Find Wolf Eels
Wolf eels live in caves, cracks, and rocky reefs. You can find them in both shallow waters and depths up to 226 meters (about 740 feet). Their home range stretches from the Sea of Japan and the Bering Sea all the way down to Northern California.
Wolf Eel Habits
Large wolf eels are usually curious and not aggressive towards people. However, they can give a painful bite if they feel threatened.
A male and female wolf eel often stay together for life. They share a cave and guard their eggs together. One parent always stays with the eggs while the other goes to find food.
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What Wolf Eels Eat
This eel-like fish loves to eat invertebrates with hard shells. This includes crustaceans like crabs, sea urchins, mussels, and clams. They use their strong jaws to crush these hard foods. They also eat some smaller fish. In aquariums, they sometimes prefer soft foods like squid over hard-shelled prey.
Who Hunts the Wolf Eel?
Adult wolf eels have few natural enemies. Sharks, large fish, and harbor seals are their main predators. However, wolf eel eggs and young fish are much more vulnerable. Young wolf eels are small and don't have strong jaws yet. Fish like rockfish and kelp greenling will hunt the juvenile wolf eels.
Wolf Eels and People
The wolf eel has tasty, sweet, white meat that can be eaten. Some Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest had a special name for the wolf eel: the "doctorfish." They believed that only tribal healers should eat this fish. They thought it would make their healing powers stronger.
Images for kids
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Wolf eel in Puget Sound
See also
In Spanish: Anguila Lobo para niños
