Moray eel
Depth: 50 m · Sunlight Zone
The moray eel lurks in a rock crevice by day and peers out with its mouth open. That looks fierce, but it is only how it breathes. Deep in its throat sits a second pair of jaws that shoots forward like a grabbing claw and pulls prey inward.
For scientists
The moray eel has pharyngeal jaws: a second, movable set of jaws in the throat shoots forward, grips the prey, and drags it into the gullet, because the moray cannot create suction in its tight hole. It breathes by constantly pumping water through its open mouth. Some hunt in coordination with groupers, one drives the prey, the other snaps.
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