The mechanism behind this eerie behavior is a nervous system pre-programmed to make certain movements without the brain needing to send a signal. It’s a similar reflex to that of a headless chicken being able to run around for a short time, Jayne says. The bodies of snakes often writhe around for some time after they are dead, says Bruce Jayne, a biology professor at the University of Cincinnati. In June 2018, after a man in Texas was bitten by a decapitated rattlesnake head, National Geographic and Science Alert penned articles explaining the phenomena: It’s likely that the fish’s nerve endings were still functioning, and that pressure near its jaw triggered a muscle spasm. The original video shows that this fish was decapitated just before a Coke can was pushed into its jaws. While some viewers hypothesized that this fish head was still alive when this video was filmed, it’s likely that the footage shows an involuntary muscle reflex. The original video also provides some insight into how and why this decapitated fish head bit down on a can of Coca-Cola.
#A WOLF EEL UPDATE#
We’ve reached out to the Marine Conservation Institute to confirm and will update this article when more information becomes available. One reason for the confusion may relate to this fish’s nickname, the “ ocean catfish.” We compared stills from the GIF with photographs and believe that the marine creature featured in this video is indeed a wolf eel. Head of a wolf eel that can bite you even after the head is detached from the body. Coke,” but the marine species in the video is labeled a “wolf eel” and a “catfish wolf eel” in the description:ĭon’t stick your hand into the mouth of a dead fish – even after you chop the things head off. Filmmaker Rúni Djurhuus titled the footage “Catfish vs. The original video appears to have been taken aboard a commercial fishing ship. Retrieved May 24 th, 2011, from above-displayed GIF comes from a longer video that was posted to YouTube in January 2019. Retrieved May 24 th, 2011 from Zaheer Kanji (December 2001). Pacific fishes of Canada Fisheries Research Board of Canada. Young and Mature Wolf Eel photo kindly provided by Erik Schauff The parents will closely guard their offspring for a period of around sixteen weeks, until at last they hatch. Females can produce up to an astounding ten thousand eggs at once. The male will court his female first by bumping his head up against her abdomen, then enveloping her entirely with his long slender body. These creatures seek out their partners at four years of age, but will not reproduce until around seven. Wolf Eels are unique in the way they go about their lives because (despite how they may initially appear) they are in fact quite the romantics- they mate for life. Its jaw is designed especially for mowing down on hard-shelled creatures such as crustaceans, mussels, clams, sea urchins, snails, and some other fish.Īlthough full-grown Wolf Eels have next to no predators (save the occasional harbor seal), their eggs often fall prey to rockfish and Kelp Greenlings. The Wolf Eel is a rather intimidating-looking carnivore, adapted perfectly to suit its murky environment. The deepest a Wolf Eel has ever been uncovered is 225 meters below the surface. It tends to keep to shallow to medium depth waters, making its home in the hollows between rocks, which oftentimes look as though they would not be able to fit its wide head.
![a wolf eel a wolf eel](https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/globalassets/mba/images/wallpaper/2015/05_wolf-eel_rw15-025/wolf-eel_d-large.jpg)
The Wolf Eel has been found to live anywhere from Japan to the islands of Racerocks off of British Columbia’s coast. The wolf eel’s dorsal fin extends from its head to the tip of its sleek body its pectoral fins, located at the base of the head, are large and rounded. Juveniles are a startling orange marked with dark orange splotches. It is easy to differentiate between male and female wolf eels the males tend to have larger, more grotesque heads, whereas the females possess a smaller jaw and are often darker in colour. These dots may differ in size and colour depending on the individual and its gender, and are frequently surrounded by a light ring. The adult Wolf Eel ranges from light brown to dark gray in colour, with a long, dot-covered body. Sometimes referred to as the “Ugly old man of the sea,” the Wolf Eel has a bulbous head with a strong jaw and sharp teeth.