Eel-shaped, jawless sea fish, usually about 50 cm long and dull pink to blue-grey, with loose skin and no true fins. They are the only living animals with a skull but no backbone. They eat seabed worms and burrow into dead and dying animals, and defend themselves with huge amounts of slime.
Quick answers
What is it?Fish
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Night
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
Rarely eaten in most of the world, but valued in South Korea, where it is grilled or stir-fried; one species is also eaten in Japan.
At a glance
Found inOceans
HabitatOpen ocean
ColoursPink, Grey, Brown
SizeMedium
LengthUsually about 50 cm; up to 127 cm
LegsNone
Covered inSkin
Lives alone
Lives for15–40 years
Can swim
Lays eggs
In the wild
- What it eats
- Seabed worms, plus dead and dying sea animals that it often enters and eats from the inside. Some hunt fish in their burrows.
Did you know
Its slime swells 10,000 times in under half a second, and it ties itself in a knot to escape.
Its skin is sold as "eel skin" leather for wallets and belts.
It has more blood for its body mass than any other chordate.
Often confused with
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