Fact Friday

Spotted Moray Eel

How do you eat when you don’t have appendages? Snakes on land have an expandable jaw that allows them to move their jaws forward in order to eat their prey whole. Eels do not have this capability. Eels, like this spotted moray eel (Gymnothorax moringa), have two sets of jaws to help them feed. The oral jaws capture the prey, while the phalangeal jaws reach towards the oral jaws to pull the prey into its throat.

Photo Credit: Andrew Bruckner

Need Help?

Send us an email

Email

For Students

For Students

Below are online student worksheets that will reinforce and extend the knowledge you will learn in each unit of the Coral Reef Ecology Curriculum. There are three types of worksheets: Lessons, Watch It! worksheets that accompany educational YouTube videos, and Read It! worksheets that accompany our blogs.