Fauna, Scuba News, Underwater Environment

Snake Eel - a strange creature with fangs

An interesting find was stumbled upon by people who went to a beach in Texas City after Hurricane Harvey calmed down. The waves threw up a strange looking animal. It turned out that tweeting quickly reaches a wide audience. It was through this route that the information found biologist, Dr Kenneth Tighe, who concluded that

ByTomasz Andrukajtis

Published: September 21, 2017 - 16:14

Updated: July 22, 2023 - 15:39

Snake Eel – a strange creature with fangs

An interesting find was stumbled upon by people who went to a beach in Texas City after Hurricane Harvey calmed down. The waves threw up a strange looking animal. It turned out that tweeting quickly reaches a wide audience.

It was through this route that the information found biologist, Dr Kenneth Tighe, who concluded that it was most likely an eel of the species Aplatophis chauliodus. These fish are found in the western regions of the Atlantic, in the Gulf of Mexico and French Guiana. They are generally encountered at diving depths, between 30 and 90 metres.

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They are characterised by the large fangs visible in the photo, and a slender body, typical of eels. In English the fanged creature is called the snake-eel, or tusky eel. It lives in burrows and, similar to the moray eel, protrudes a section of its mouth with eyes. It feeds on fish and crustaceans. Adults grow up to 84 cm long.

Therefore, if you find a strange-looking animal on the beach, it is worth sharing the photos on the internet. Under water, however, we suggest you do not stroke a snake-eel!

Source: bbc.com

About author

Tomasz Andrukajtis

Editor-in-chief of the DIVERS24 portal and magazine. Responsible for obtaining, translating and developing content. He also supervises all publications. Achived his first diving certification – P1 CMAS, in 2000. Has a degree in journalism and social communication. In the diving industry since 2008.