Some Moray Eels Have Two Sets of Jaws

mikesd81 writes that the Mercury News reports that scientists at UC Davis have discovered that some eels have an extra set of jaws deep in their throats that launch forward into their mouths to help pull prey in. "'It looks like a funny pair of forceps with curved sharp teeth,' said evolutionary biologist Rita Mehta, lead author of the research, which appears Thursday in Nature. Before the discovery, scientists thought that all aquatic predators swallowed their prey using suction. By dropping the lower jaw and creating a flow of water into their mouths, they draw in the prey. The two species of moray eels studied by Mehta and Wainwright are the first examples of an alternative feeding method. Instead of sucking, one of these eels bites its prey with its primary set of teeth. It then draws the second set of teeth into its mouth by contracting long muscles. The secondary jaws clamp down on the prey, allowing the eel to move its primary jaws forward in a gulping motion to take in more of the prey. The two sets of jaws take turns until the whole animal has been swallowed." mikesd81 adds a link to a YouTube video of an eel eating, noting "If you look closely right around 34 seconds you can see what looks like the other set of jaws chewing."

Why is the article tagged Sci-Fi?

[morgan_greywolf]

Am I missing something here?

Two jaws? Pah.

[pzs]

That's nothing. [bbc.co.uk]

Peter

"That's a Moray!" -- Official version

[ClickOnThis]

Many years ago, somebody actually did write a moray-eel spoof of Dean Martin's "That's Amore". IIRC it was made popular by a group named "Barefoot and Andy", who had numerous scuba-themed songs and played in various clubs near scuba resorts in the Caribbean, including the Cayman Islands (where I heard them once.)

You can find the lyrics at the bottom of this page:

http://www.ukdivers.net/life/morays.htm [ukdivers.net]

News?

[u8i9o0]

Over two decades ago, I noticed a second set of jaws in a moray eel on display at a local pet store.
If I had known that such an observation was newsworthy, I'd have shown it to more than just my brother and father.

Since I see this as a non-story, I'll offer an anecdote:

Seeing the second set made me even more afraid of morays - they're creepy enough with just one set. The worst was seeing one with a body cross section similar in size to a 3 liter soda bottle just a few yards from me while SCUBA diving. Daggers for teeth. That thing could have easily killed anyone in the group. Not something you want to meet that far under water, protected only by a bathing suit and basic SCUBA gear.

BTW, even though the article makes SciFi comparisons, this article should not be categorized under SciFi. Otherwise, every subject should be categorized under SciFi (find me a subject that cannot be compared to SciFi).