Slithering along the bottom bobbing its head side to side as if sniffing a scent the sharptail eel hunts its prey. Oblivious to our presence it charges forward at a fast speed apparently sensing or smelling a meal. I move my leg as it dodges under me, it is fully intent on catching some invisible prey. Stopping abruptly just below me it sticks its head, with those tubular nostrils, in a small hole but quickly loses interest and slithers on toward another opportunity.
Such is the life of a sharptail eel constantly searching for a meal. They get their name from the sharp pointed tail that is often used to dig a hole so that they can burrow into the sand and then wait to ambush prey. But you are just as likely to see them free-swimming about in the turtle grass and rubble actively looking for food.
That sharp tail is the stuff of tall tales, or maybe the truth, as fishermen will tell stories of finding eels in grouper stomachs. The story goes that the eels will bore through the body cavity with their sharp tails but die and become mummified inside the body cavity of the grouper. I don’t know if this is true but it is a good tale, don’t you agree?
Often mistaken for a sea snake the sharptail eel will cause many new divers to swim away but the sharptail eel is not a snake at all. Actually it is quite beautiful with round yellowish-orange spots on its head and white spots covering its olive green body.
Mary and I shot this video of a sharptail eel in Curacao.
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