|If you're ever lucky
enough to actually see a snake eel, this is probably all
you'll see (a head). This photo, along with the other
three other snake eel photos were taken at a place we
called the "eel grass", a shallow area about 23
feet deep located at Batangas, Luzon island, Philippines.
The spot was named for the characteristic vegetation and
sand. All the times I ever saw snake eels were at night;
they are reclusive creatures and difficult to find.
This particular eel, along with snake eel #3 below, may be a special type of snake eel called a "crocodile snake eel".
Snake eels number nearly 200 species worldwide. They are different from their moray cousins in both form and behavior. Instead of a flat tail for swimming, their tails are hard and pointed, used for burrowing into the sand, as shown here. Their entire body is hidden except for the head, while they lie in wait for prey. They also seem to generally be smaller than morays (maybe 2 feet long, judging by the ones I have seen). Their bellows-type jaw movement keeps water circulating over the gills, with the exhaled water emerging from new-moon shaped gill slits, the same as moray eels. This breathing may be less conspicuous because they use less oxygen at rest.
clip of snake eel breathing heavily (credit: Tineke S.)
snake eel #2 [99k]
snake eel #3 [114k]
snake eel #4 [99k]
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