A gulper eel aka pelican eel or umbrella-mouth gulper is a strange-looking deep-sea eel that has a very eerie appearance. We all know many types of eels out there but this one is just on another level of eel. This is exactly why we are going to learn more about the gulper eels today, and all the fun facts about them. Let’s take a look and see which information you find the most interesting about this deep sea creature.
1Appearance
A gulper eel is only around 75 to 100 centimeters long, with a slender body and a very long whip-like tail. However, size does not really matter when the total appearance is rather eye-catching like this. First of all, it has no scales, no pelvic fins, and no swim bladder. At a glance, you can probably tell what this eel’s mouth resembles, a pelican’s, of course. A gulper eel’s mouth is way larger than its body, about a quarter of its total body length, to be exact. The mouth is loosely hinged, and obviously, it can open its mouth wide enough to swallow a fish that is larger than itself. Just like a shapeshifter, the video above does better justice to its appearance than photos.
That is not all, the end of its tail bears a complex organ with numerous tentacles, and it glows pink. It is not every day that we come across a fish with a glowing tail like this one, pretty cool, right? Gulper eels have tiny eyes which means their eyesight is not the best so they cannot locate prey with sight. That’s where their glowing tails come to work, and it is rather fascinating. It dangles its fin tail so that the red or pink light can lure the prey to swim to it. Despite the glowing tail, the entire body of the eel is black or olive which is beneficial for camouflaging. This camouflage ability works both ways when it comes to hiding from its predators and prey.
2Feeding & Habitats
Gulper eels are active hunters so they pursue food instead of waiting for prey to swim by. The stomach of this eel can stretch to accommodate larger fish but they have tiny teeth. So they usually eat small crustaceans, fish, and invertebrates like shrimps instead of big fish and squids. When hunting, a gulper eel will open its mouth and consume a large amount of prey while expelling the water through its gills. And yes, these eels can suddenly expand their mouths to scoop any prey; hence all of their nicknames.
Pelican eels occur in temperate and tropical seas across the world, living at depths of over 7 kilometers under the surface. They are very common in the midnight zone, and many things in that zone look freaky. Because of their habitats, these eels are very adaptive to the extreme pressure and cold temperatures, as well as darkness. While being deep-sea creatures, they are caught in fishing nets on many occasions. Every time that happens, their long tails are always tied into several knots. They are rare so the information about them is also not abundant, at least they are considered Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
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