Eel Shark
Eel sharks are a large species of shark native to the Latica Ocean of Norrab. It inhabits the deepest parts of the ocean, thriving in the complete darkness.
Taxonomy
Eel sharks are in the family Chlamydoselachidae, alongside frilled sharks. They are of the genus Megalostoma macroaoura.
Anatomy
Eel sharks are easily recognisable thanks to their eel-like physiology. These animals have large, wide heads, used to ram into prey. Gills are fairly small as these animals do not have a high respiration rate.
The skin is a dark brown, lighter around the chest area. All fins are a reddish-brown colour, with small venomous spines.
A typical adult male eel shark measures around two metres in length, three metres in females.
Like frilled sharks, eel sharks are able to open wide, almost at a 180 degree angle, stretching to devour food sources much larger than the shark itself.
Diet
Eel sharks have a diet of cephalopods, small sharks, and other fish. They practice diel vertical migration, rising to the surface of the ocean at night.
Thanks to their jaw adaptations, few creatures can't be swallowed. Blackfield squid and retro tetras are typical prey for eel sharks, both slow-moving, deep-sea animals that also rise to the surface at night. Eel sharks target a large group of squids or fish, aimlessly ramming into the shoal in the hopes of smashing into something and stunning it long enough to be swallowed.
A secondary and tertiary set of internal jaws helps process the food, before entering the stomach.
Reproduction & Growth
Eel sharks are ovoviviparous, meaning the species lay eggs which hatch inside the body, birthing live young. Eel sharks have no set breeding season as there is no seasonal influence in the Abyssopelagic Zone. Males reach sexual maturity when they grow to a metre in length, females when they reach 1.5 metres.
These sharks give birth to three young in a single litter, with a gestation period lasting around four years.
Hatchlings are immediately abandoned by the parents, forced to fend for themselves in the deep ocean. They are at severe risk of predation - thankfully, their small size makes them a waste of energy to hunt down. Juveniles are at a far bigger risk, when they grow large enough to become prey for most creatures in the Latica Ocean.
Habitat
No no, I swear I saw an eel shark fly into my boat and then wiggle itself back into the sea. I'm not making it up, I'm not crazy!
Eel sharks have been recorded as far north as the Blackfields, and as far south as Evesti.
During the day, eel sharks are benthic creatures. They swim along the seabed, navigating the terrain through vibrations in the water. They are predominantly found around plate boundaries, where deep-sea trenches have emerged and created vast underwater canyons, thousands of metres deep.
At night these animals rise to the surface of the ocean, the Epipelagic, or Sunlight Zone. Here they feed on squids and fish, and communicate with conspecifics using an array of body language techniques including flicking their tail and vibrating their head.
A handful of reports from night-fishers around the Latica Ocean have come about in recent years, claiming these sharks to fly. Supposedly, several eel sharks have found their way onto people's boats and inside the cockpit, most passing off these reports as cases of night-fishing insanity.
Eel sharks are often accidental prey of armoured whales, cetaceans that feed on entire shoals of squids in a single gulp.
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NIGHT-FISHING INSANITY!? NOW YOU'VE GOT MY ATTENTION!!! yeee spooky sea stuff :} Typo: "Males reach sexual maturity when they grows to a metre in length..."
I'm hoping to write an article on night fishing, and night fishing insanity soon! Typo fixed!