This video may be a few years old, but it’s a great example of just how ferocious eels can be. While most eels are considered misunderstood creatures that are friendly with divers and aquarists alike, this clip shows quite the opposite. In fact, it not only shows their voracious side, but it also shows something that isn’t documented very often…eel on eel violence. The two eels seen squaring off on this Indo-Pacific reef are a honeycomb moray eel and a yellow spotted moray, with the former being the larger attacker. The two eels engage in some heart pounding fisticuffs, and the smaller yellow spotted moray eventually gets eaten alive.
In the aquarium hobby, moray eels rarely get large enough to become this aggressive. They are often sold as foot-long juveniles, give or take, and they don’t normally reach mature lengths in captivity. This is due to numerous reasons that we won’t go into, but the key message to take from this is that eels can be very dangerous. Diver’s have lost fingers to them on random occasions, and plenty of aquarium hobbyists have lost other fish to them as well.
