Hello, I recently watched an episode of the tv show River Monsters on longfin eels and I found that they look and act a lot like bichirs. Like polys they have the elongated nostrils, they swim and have the front fins of bichirs and the even do the classic bichir deathroll. Is this a coincidence or are they related?
Eels related to bichirs?
- Thread starter zippybomb
- Start date
Longfin Eel:
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Actinopterygii
Order - Anguilliformes
Family - Anguillidae
Genus - Anguillia
Species - dieffenbachii
Polypterus:
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Actinopterygii
Order - Polypteriformes
Family - Polypteridae
Genus - Polypterus
Species - various
So, depending on how far up the ladder you go, yes they are related. Basically in that they are animals, vertebrates, and fish. And that's about as close as they get. Having a nose and death rolling prey does nothing for making two fish closely related. Virtually all elongated predatory fish share the deathroll for eating. And nostrills are just nostrils.
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Actinopterygii
Order - Anguilliformes
Family - Anguillidae
Genus - Anguillia
Species - dieffenbachii
Polypterus:
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Actinopterygii
Order - Polypteriformes
Family - Polypteridae
Genus - Polypterus
Species - various
So, depending on how far up the ladder you go, yes they are related. Basically in that they are animals, vertebrates, and fish. And that's about as close as they get. Having a nose and death rolling prey does nothing for making two fish closely related. Virtually all elongated predatory fish share the deathroll for eating. And nostrills are just nostrils.
Nope.
Zebra moray eels are very well known for it. It's their main way of aquiring food. They grab onto the legs of crabs, then roll like crazy to rip them off.
Zebra moray eels are very well known for it. It's their main way of aquiring food. They grab onto the legs of crabs, then roll like crazy to rip them off.