Super Sea Creatures

MORAYORAY EELSELS

GAIL TERP

1 ThisBolt isWorld published Book by edition Black Rabbitof Scorpions Books isP.O. published Box 3263, by Mankato, agreement Minnesota, between 56002. www.blackrabbitbooks.com CopyrightBlack Rabbit © 2021 Books Black and Rabbit World Books Book, Inc. © 2020 Black Rabbit Books, 2140Marysa Howard Storm, Dr.editor; West, Grant Gould, designer; Omay Ayres, photo researcher North Mankato, MN 56003 U.S.A. WorldAll rights Book, reserved. Inc., No part of this book may be 180reproduced, North LaSalle stored St.,in a Suite retrieval 900, system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,Chicago, IL without 60601 writtenU.S.A. permission from the publisher.

AllNames: rights Terp, reserved. Gail, 1951- No author.part of this book may be reproduced in any Title: Moray / Gail Terp. Description:form without Mankato, written Minnesota permission : Black from Rabbit the publisher. Books, [2021] | Series: Bolt. Super sea creatures | Includes bibliographical references and index. Marysa| Audience: Storm, Ages editor; 8-12. | GrantAudience: Gould, Grades designer; 4-6. | Summary:Omay Ayres, “Dive into ONTENTS learning about moray eels with vibrant photography, engaging text, CONTENTS andphoto range researcher maps, size comparisons, and other infographics”– Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2019026796 (print) | LCCN 2019026797 Library(ebook) of| ISBN Congress 9781623102821 Control Number:(hardcover) 2018020663 | ISBN 9781644663783 (paperback) | ISBN 9781623103767 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Morays–Juvenile literature. CHAPTER 1 Classification:ISBN: 978-0-7166-3928-2 LCC QL638.M875 T47 2021 (print) | LCC QL638.M875 (ebook) | DDC 597/.43–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026796 In the Sea...... 4 LCPrinted ebook in record the United available States. at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026797 1/19 Printed in the United States. 2/20 CHAPTER 2 Food to Eat and a Place to Live...... 13

Image Credits CHAPTER 3 Alamy: BIOSPHOTO, 3; Helmut Corneli, 9, 14–15; Jean-Luc Bohin, 27 Family Life...... 19 (btm); Jesse Cancelmo, 4–5 (); National Geographic Image Collection, 8–9; Reinhard Dirscherl, 18; WaterFrame, 6, 22–23; courses.pbsci. CHAPTER 4 ucsc.edu: UCSC, 21 (btm); divephotoguide.com: Mike Haber, 28–29; geekologie.com: balivillarenting, 21 (top); Part of Their World. . . . .25 Minden Pictures: Tobias Bernhard Raff, Cover; reddit.com: mike_pants, 21 (middle); semanticsholar.org: D. Zupanc, 22; Shutterstock: Andrea Izzotti, 1; Damsea, 32; Eric Issel- ee, 24 (btm ); Evlakhov Valeriy, 4–5 (squid), 10–11, 24 Other Resources...... 30 (eels); grapher_golf, 12; LuFeeTheBear, 24 (crab); Oran- geVector, 16–17; poorbike, 24 (sea snake); Rich Carey, 24 (top fish), 27 (top), 31; Volosina, 24 (squid) Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders for material reproduced in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in subse- quent printings if notice is given to the publisher. CHAPTER 1 INN THETHE SEAEA It’s night in the ocean. A hides in a coral reef. It waits for prey. Soon, a squid swims near. It has no idea it’s in danger. Quickly, the moray darts out. It bites the squid. The squid struggles. It squirms. But there’s no escape from the moray.

4 5 Long and Lean

Moray eels are strong hunters. There are about 200 types of these predators. They look like snakes, but they’re fish. These fish don’t have scales. Instead, they have slimy skin. The slime protects morays from parasites and bacteria. Moray skin comes in many colors. It’s often patterned. Patterned skin helps morays blend in with their habitats. Predators and prey can’t see them.

up to 13 feet (4 meters) green moray up to 8 feet (2 m) COMPARING California moray up to 5 feet (1.5 m) LENGTHS snowflake moray up to 3 feet (1 m) feet 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 6 7 Secret Weapon

All morays have a second jaw. It’s in their throats. These extra jaws are their secret weapons. When attacking, a moray’s outer teeth bite and hold. Then the inner jaw shoots forward. It grabs the prey. The outer teeth then let go. The inner jaw pulls the prey into the throat.

Sometimes shrimp crawl on morays. They eat the eels’ dead skin. The shrimp get free food. And the eels get 8 clean bodies.