Product Description
The Pelican eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) is a deep-sea eel. It is the only known member of the genus Eurypharynx and the family Eurypharyngidae. It belongs to the "saccopharyngiforms", members of which were historically placed in their own order, but are now considered true eels in the order Anguilliformes. The pelican eel has been described by many synonyms, yet nobody has been able to demonstrate that more than one species of pelican eel exists. It is also referred to as the gulper eel (which can also refer to members of the related genus Saccopharynx), pelican gulper, and umbrella-mouth gulper. The specific epithet pelecanoides refers to the pelican, as the fish's large mouth is reminiscent to that of the pelican.
The pelican eel also has a very long, whip-like tail that it uses for movement and for communication via bioluminescence. Specimens that have been brought to the surface in fishing nets have been known to have their long tails tied into several knots. The end of the tail bears a complex organ with numerous tentacles, which glows pink and gives off occasional bright-red flashes. The colors on its tail are displayed through its light-emitting photophores. This is presumably a lure to attract prey, although its presence at the far end of the body from the mouth suggests the eel may have to adopt an unusual posture to use it effectively.
Pelican eels are black or olive and some subspecies may have a thin lateral white stripe. The coloration of E. pelecanoides is especially dark because this species exhibits ultra-black camouflage. This special pigmentation, which reflects less than 0.5% of light, allows these eels to be cloaked in darkness in their low light environments. Ultra-black camouflage allows these bathypelagic eels to evade predators and hide from prey.
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