[Coral-List] Moray eel behavior

[Elizabeth Theresa Celia]

 Hi!
I have seen battles between moray eels and octopuses before. This looks
like a classic case of an octopus attack. There is a lot of activity on the
reef and a lot of feeding, which most likely attracted the eel. Undetected
by the eel, the octopus was still inside the coral, and tried to pull the
eel inside. Luckily for the eel, it was able to finally escape. It's hard
to see for sure any wounds on the eel; whether the rosy spots are indeed
wounds or stress coloring. The eel seems disinterested in the octopus and
just wants to get away.
It is true that octopus are a yummy meal for the eel along with fish and
invertebrates. But most likely, the eel found the structure, not realizing
that the octopus was inside, and was ambushed.

Best,
Elizabeth

On Thu, May 26, 2022 at 8:13 AM Eduardo Sampaio via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> Has anyone seen this type of behavior in moray eels and knows more about
> it?
>
> https://twitter.com/OctoEduardo/status/1528283147103870976
>
> I was sent this clip and am very curious on what it could be.
>
> All the best,
> Eduardo
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