![]() ![]() At some popular dive sites, wolf eels will casually exit their dens and approach a diver to see if they have any food. As such there is some controversy over divers feeding them. During casual observation, I have seen large males come halfway out of their den to “fend off” intrusive divers and block their mate and eggs from sight.īut in reality, wolf eels are quite docile, friendly, and very curious. The females will often be smaller and browner in appearance, with males larger and grayer. You can often find them coinhabiting a small cave, day after day, carefully taking care of their eggs and taking turns to venture out to feed. Living for at least 28 years, many wolf eels will mate for life. In fact, of all the fish I have ever had the pleasure of diving with, wolf eels are some of the most dedicated lovers. But octopus have also been known to eradicate pesky wolf eels.ĭespite their frightening appearance, wolf eels just want to be loved. They have been known to share dens with giant pacific octopus, lingcod, rockfish, and sculpin. Identified by their often brilliant orange color, juvenile wolf eels remain pelagic for up to 2 years and slowly settle benthically into nearshore reefs to find a proper den. Their sharp canines are perfect for crushing through shells. Wolf eels tend to live in caves or cracks between boulders and feed on crustaceans (crab and shrimp), as well as urchins, mussels, clams, and the occasional fish. Although they aren’t a true eel, they fill a similar niche. Wolf eels can reach a remarkable length of 7ft 10 inches and 41 pounds. But don’t call them wolf fish – that’s something else. To me, wolf eels resemble the face of an old man who spent a little too much time under the sun, died, and then reanimated as a zombie.įound to depths of 740 feet in the North Pacific from Japan to Southern California, wolf eels are neither wolf nor eel. But without a doubt, wolf eels ( Anarrhichthys ocellatus) rank in the top five. Having scientifically identified thousands upon thousands of fish at sea in the North Pacific, it’s still quite hard for me to pick my top contenders. ![]() ![]() So many, in fact, this is a frequent topic of debate among divers, scientists, and late-night TV hosts. Which one is the ugliest? Well, it’s really hard to say. I never caugh t another, ever, nor seen one caught, except in offshore trawls.There are a lot of ugly fish in the sea. Once we caught our one and only RAT FISH south of Npt on the reefs. We found plenty in the pots and would grab the tail and swing them around in circles and see how far we could throw them. I ate one once, kind of like ling I thought, probably never keep another, we killed to many commercial crabbing. After seeing them in the rock all the time it was weird to see them there. I came across a half dozen out on the sand, no doubt looking for crabs. BUT.what I have been get too, is the wolf eels. The vis was good, but in the surf, (makes me want to puke again thinking about it) the sand goes, left, then righ, then six feet away, then a foot away going left again.I puked several times. Once I tried digging razor clams at high tide, diving south of the jetty, I marked the spit at low tide, by burying a anchor with a small float attached. They used to scare me to death diving, if I knew they were there no big deal, it was when you looked under a boulder or ledge, and come face to face unexpectedly. ![]()
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