

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.
#Wolf eel eat tv#
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.
