Question: how come wolf eels can eat sea urchins and other eels cant
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I havent seen a wolf eel but would like to. I saw one on a show once and they looked really cool.
i wouldnt want to be bitten by one either -
I wonder if any of the Aquariums in Australia have wolf eels? That would be cool..
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I have a relative that is a Marine Biologist, I’d have to ask her, but wolf eels sound excpetionally interesting!
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Wolf Eels can be found in the Pacific Ocean, but most of the information I can find talks about where they have been seen in America. I would love to know if they can be found off the coast of Australia.
sugarglidersrule
magic
Hmmm, a tricky question for me because the animal I specialise in is the human, not sea creatures. The best type of scientist to answer this question would be a zoologist or perhaps a marine biologist.
Generally, animals don’t like to get eaten and so they have ways to stop themselves getting eaten. The sea urchin has some defences to stop it getting eaten, including spikes and a shell. So to eat a sea urchin the wolf eel has to be able to get around all the sea urchins defences.
Exactly how a wolf eel does that, I do not know. Perhaps one of the other Health Zone scientists will know, or you may have to become a scientist and do some research of your own! 🙂
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Wolf eels are cool! I have never seen one in real life – have you?
I’m not an expert on wolf eels – but I reckon the reason they can eat sea urchins and other eels can’t is that wolf eels aren’t really eels! They’re fish – wolffish!
Wolf eels have specially developed teeth that allow them to crush sea urchins and other crunchy hard-shelled animals, like clams and mussels. They have super sharp canine-like teeth at the front, and powerful molars at the back for grinding those sea urchins up. And a super strong jaw too.
Have you seen this video where it snaps up a sea urchin? http://youtu.be/zgv80p4KqVo
I would not like to be bitten by one myself – I reckon it would be pretty nasty!
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