moray eels

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Gymnothorax once bubbled...

I have been biten by a Yellowhead Moray Eel (Gymnothorax Fibriatus) and it does hurt bad, but the first thing you try not to do is move or jerk fast, that just causes more pain and damage to you. To get it off just reach in with your other hand and squeeze gently behind the jaw bone this will raise the jaw so you can remove you limb.

I'll take your word for it, I've thus far managed to go my diving career without anything worse than an urchine spine, (knock wood), I think I'll attempt to continue that trend!
 
MantaRey:
anyone know how to entice a moray eel to leave it's hole without attacking you? I don't agree with feeding, so not that. anyways who wants to with those teeth?!
While diving off the coast of Okinawa I was poking around a hole when this moray eel pops out about a foot with it's mouth open. Scared the crap out of me, but it went back inside. I guess I don't really know how to entice one out other than poking around the hole, which I don't recommend.
 
Shanghai Manta:
In the wrecks off the UK there is a very commonly caught eel called the Conger Eel that grows to a weight of up to 250 lbs. The record stands at around 350 lbs according to the websites I've visited. No idea how long they were though.

Kevin

a couple of conger eel photos
 
cdiver2:
a couple of conger eel photos

What do you do when you catch them? Can you eat them? What do they taste like?

Marc
 
MantaRey:
anyone know how to entice a moray eel to leave it's hole without attacking you? I don't agree with feeding, so not that. anyways who wants to with those teeth?!
go for a night dive and you,ll see them all over the place,peace :wink:
 
Barracuda2:
You will not entice a Moray out of its den without food---YOU DO NOT WANT TO ENTICE A MORAY OUT WITH FOOD! They don't see very well and if they come out to take bait from you, they will not be able to tell the difference between your hand the the food in your hand. 4 yrs. ago, a day tripper from Belize City came over to the Belize Aggressor with a badly bitten dive leader to use the radio to summon help. It was a nasty wound right in the tricep of his left arm. Over a period of months, he was training this moray to take food from him for the entertainment of his diving guest. On that day, he tucked the plastic baggy with the bait in it under his left arm while he turned to signal his nine guest to form a semi-circle in front of the den. Much to the horror of the rest of the on-looking divers, the moray came out and lunged at the baggy---he got it and a nice chunk of the dive leader's arm. Get this---blood filled the water; the dive leader and his assistant surfaced, got aboard the boat and sped to the Aggressor leaving all nine guest divers in the water. Probably most of these divers were your tourist diver. Can you imagine what they thought being left alone in the bloody water and their transportation speeding away?:wacko: One of our guest familiar with boats took dive operator's boat back to the quest to pick them up. He said that all he saw when he got there were nine pairs of saucer size eyes staring, several were in a near panic. He calmed them down and got them aboard. Fortunately, we had a doc on board who was able to give first aid. The dive leader was taken to a nearby island where a helicopter picked him up. I have seen a few free swimming morays during the day, but they are primarily night hunters. Be satisified looking at the moray displaying his head, teeth, and pulsing jaws; take photos or video, but don't fool around with them. If they feel threatened, they will defend themselves. If you see one swimming freely during the day, consider yourself lucky.

Barracuda2

I'm so glad I read this. I have been pondering trying to an eel out of his hole. NOW I'm not!!! this is a very scary story.
 
FLL Diver:
What do you do when you catch them? Can you eat them? What do they taste like?

Marc

I don't hunt at all, but I did hear they are no good for eating. The anglers go after them because they put up one hell of a fight. I never said they had brains ( the anglers ).

Three of us spent a years worth of weekends filming congers on a wreck with the old super eight cine cameras and eventually had a film shown on BBC tv. We were careful not to disclose the location but a couple of weeks after the film aired half the congers were gone and the rest had cuts around the lips where they had been hooked. Obviously someone had seen us diving there every weekend.

I don't know if Morays are the same but the congers have a double row of small needle like teeth raked back wards. A lymph heart in the tail, touching them was ok until you got to the tail then they would get a little upset. When they reach maturity they go to the Saragossa (spelling) sea very deep and don't come back.
 
The biggest Moray I ever saw was the GIANT ELECTRIC MORAY EEL on baywatch, it was about 35 feet long and attacked two of the life guards that were cave diving and got stuck because there was an earthquake and an avalanche blocked the entrance.
 
Haven't seen a seriously big moray, the congers around the uk can get BIG though(!) Personally don't like to feed them but they tend to like to check you out anyway and will even circle you if you're lucky, beautiful.
 
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