Eels' narrow range of movement makes them 'slither'
You wanted to know: Students in Kim Forker's class at Matigian PreSchool in Libertyville asked, “Why do eels slither?
There are nearly 700 species of eels that live in freshwater but spawn in the ocean.
As tiny, leaf-shaped and almost see-through larva, eels float around in the sea currents for a few years until they reach maturity.
As they grow, they edge closer and closer to their adult homes in rivers or lakes or along reefs. They prefer shallow water where they can hide out and surprise their prey, although some species live in the darkness of the deep ocean.
Surprisingly, the electric eel is not an eel at all; it's a toothless, air-breathing freshwater fish.
Lise Watson, collection manager at the Shedd Aquarium's Wild Reef, said an eel's strength is definitely not its ability to move around.
“Their mode of swimming is inefficient at best, so they aren't built for speed,” Watson said.
A day in the life of an eel would be somewhat boring as they spend most their time waiting for a snack to happen by.
“Some hide during the day and are nocturnal feeders, preying on species of fish at rest in the reef crevices,” Watson said.
Over the ages, people have thought eels were snakelike because they give the appearance of slithering. They actually have a narrow range of movement.
“They have alternating lateral muscular contractions,” Watson said.
It's an awkward method of locomotion in which putting on the breaks means making their bodies stiff.
You can watch eels as they move around and grab a bite to eat at the Shedd Aquarium's Caribbean and Wild reefs. Watson manages the Wild Reef, home of many different species of sharks, as well as eels such as the garden eel, zebra moray, honeycomb moray and snowflake moray.
Check it out
<p>The Cook Memorial Library in Libertyville suggests these titles on eels:</p>
<p><b>“Eels” </b>by Deborah Coldiron</p>
<p><b>“Eels”</b> by Tori Miller</p>
<p><b>“Eels”</b> by Jody Sullivan Rake</p>
<p><b>“Moray Eels”</b> by Don P. Rothaus</p>