How to Snog a Hagfish! by Jonathan Eyers

Author:Jonathan Eyers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2012-04-17T04:00:00+00:00

Some types of Grouper Fish can grow to over 7ft (2m) – no wonder they need Moray Eels to help flush out prey hiding in small crevices (Photo: NOAA)

Creatures that team up with other species with different aims are quite common, but creatures that form alliances for the same shared purpose are very rare. In the sea the only two species that cooperate to hunt together are the Grouper Fish and the Giant Moray Eel.

Groupers are typically large stout fish, wider than they are high, and with big mouths. Prey can escape them by swimming into narrow hiding places where the Grouper’s mouth won’t fit. Unfortunately for the prey, Giant Moray Eels may grow to 13ft (4m) long, but remain thin. A hungry Grouper initiates an alliance with a Moray by shaking its head. The Moray Eel then swims into cracks and crevices where prey might be hiding. Either the Moray flushes it out, or brings it out dead. Either way, the Grouper and its Moray partner then share the meat between them.

Only predators tend to live a solitary existence. Many sea creatures live with others of their own kind because there truly is safety in numbers. Not many, however, live with creatures from a completely different species, but Gobies and some shrimp show how it can work. The shrimp digs a burrow for them both while the Goby stands guard. Many shrimp have poor eyesight. Sometimes they don’t even see the Goby retreat into the burrow because a predator is nearby, and the Goby has to flick the shrimp with its tail as a warning. The shrimp then follows the Goby inside, and they both wait until the danger has passed.

Without a Goby on the door, a Pistol Shrimp will often hide in its burrow with only its antennae sticking out. If unsuspecting prey passes by the Pistol Shrimp can fire its bubble gun (see page 42) from indoors and only come out to drag its freshly killed dinner back inside.

Our human impulse at the mention of bacteria is to grab the bleach. But for many sea creatures, bacteria is their best friend. The Pompeii Worm, for example, relies on a thick coat of bacteria to stop it being cooked alive.

On land, volcanoes sit along the edges of tectonic plates, where the earth’s crust is split open and molten magma from deep inside the planet can rise up to the surface (and in the event of an eruption, above it). Of course these tectonic splits in the earth’s crust also happen underwater. This leads to hydrothermal vents, which are like hot springs on the seabed. They may be thousands of feet (or even metres) down, where the water is normally around freezing, but near hydrothermal vents the water temperature can reach 176°F (80°C). Few creatures can live in that kind of environment.

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