Juvenile Wolf Eel (Video)

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 3:13 pm

You guys can tell I'm bored on this sunny, perfect diving day. But I'm sick so I have nothing better to do than to upload this video of a juvenile wolf eel Nailer and I came across.

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Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 3:34 pm

Hey, C- it's busted, and I really wanted to check that out, too! That was my favorite Wolfie ever!

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 3:55 pm

Yeah, YouTube is 'still processing'. It should be good to go soon.

DiverDown · Post by **DiverDown** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 6:52 pm

Sweet! Those are are always fun to see..

John Rawlings · Post by **John Rawlings** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 7:20 pm

Cool footage! Too bad he wouldn't cooperate and hold still so that you could get some lights on him. Juvenile wolf-eels are the most BEAUTIFUL bright orange color you can ever imagine!

Those of you that haven't yet seen one are in for a visual treat when you finally do. They are simply gorgeous.

- John

Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 9:58 pm

The same Wolf eel as the video, before he got a good look at Calvin and hauled ass:

Not a great pic, but the color shows OK.

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:55 am

Sweet!

I love it! I did not realize that their juvenile color phase was orangish. Beautiful!

That wolf eel was traveling fast! Hmmm... not to inject a downer here, but I can't help but contrast him with the wolfies laying around in the open at Sund... slow, lethargic, and not moving away... even the ones laying in the open. Here's hoping the population recovers quickly!

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:34 am

John, you probably know the answer to this. Do the juveniles typically hang around with Mom and Dad for a while? This was the first juvenile I've seen away from any den I could see.

John Rawlings · Post by **John Rawlings** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:40 am

No - they don't hang around. After hatching, larval wolf-eels enter the water column along with the rest of the plankton and the parents no longer play any role whatsoever. Interestingly, planktonic wolf-eels are active predators from the moment of hatching, striking like snakes at their "fellow floaters" in the planktonic "soup".

I'll post another thread of an article that I wrote about wolf-eel biology. The original appeared in Advanced Diver Magazine (ADM) with another slightly edited version appearing later in Northwest Dive News (NWDN).

In the meantime, here is a photo that I took off Mukilteo a couple of years back. It shows a close-up of a juvenile wolf-eel's head as it peers out of its den, in this case an old rusty metal pipe on the bottom.

Here's the link:

http://www.nwdiveclub.com/gallery/v/Joh ... 3.jpg.html

- John