Gulper

You might be wondering why the title of the article mentions the gulpers as the coolest, creepiest and weirdest creature. How can an eel be the coolest or the weirdest or creepiest or can be all! It can be. Our oceans have such creatures deep inside them. The gulper eel, also known as the pelican eel or the umbrella mouth gulper, is one of the unusual deep-sea animals. The gulper eel is the only known member of the genus Eurypharynx and the family Eurypharyngidae. Like the other true eels, they also belong to the  Anguilliformes order containing 800 species including moray and garden eels. 

The gulpers of the Monognathidae family have mouths of normal proportion. But, the gulpers of Eurypharyngidae and Saccopharyngidae families have enormous mouths. They have soft tapered bodies and have long tails and greatly expandable stomachs that can accommodate large prey. They live deep under the sea at a depth of around 1600 - 10,000 feet. 

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Gulper Eel - Scientific Classification

Gulper Fish: Description

The gulper fish or the gulper eel is one of the weirdest looking creatures. This is because of their large mouth which is much larger than their body. They have a loosely hinged mouth that can open so wide that any animal larger than the eel itself can be swallowed. The reason for the gulper fish also called pelican eel is their pouch-like lower jaw which resembles a pelican. Their lower jaw is hinged to the base of their head where no body mass is behind it. Because of this, their heads look disproportionately large. The jaw of the gulper fish is estimated to be about a quarter of the total length of the fish itself.  When the fish feed on prey, they ingest water which is expelled via their gills. 

The gulper eel is different in appearance from the other eels. They lack scales, swim bladders and pelvic fins, unlike other eels. The other fish have “W-shaped” muscle segments while the gulper eel has “V-shaped” muscle segments. They have an aglomerular kidney which maintains the gelatinous substance filling the "lymphatic spaces" that are found around the vertebrae. These lymphatic spaces can function the same way as swim bladders. Unlike the other deep-sea creatures, they also have small eyes. It is said that their eyes are evolved to detect faint traces of light rather than forming images.  

The gulpers have a long whip-like tail. They move using their tails. Their tail-end bears a complex organ with numerous tentacles, which glows pink and sometimes glows as bright-red flashes through a process known as bioluminescence. Their tail colours are displayed through their light-emitting photophores. Their body is not made for chasing the prey, rather, they use these colours as lures to attract the prey close to their big mouth. When the prey comes in their range, they lunge and snap it up in their gigantic mouth. It is also unusual that the ampullae of the lateral line system project from the body, rather than being contained in a narrow groove which increases the sensitivity. 

They grow about 3 - 6 feet in length though the length of 3.3 feet is plausible. They are black or olive in colour and some of the subspecies may have thin lateral white stripes which originate on the head and continue down the entire length of the body. 

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Gulper Fish: Diet

The stomach of the gulper eel can stretch and expand to accommodate the larger animals. The gulper eels are carnivores. Though they have large jaws which occupy a quarter of their total length, they have tiny teeth. The teeth are non - consistent with a regular diet of large fish. The largemouth of the gulpers is adapted to allow them to eat a wider variety of prey when the food is scarce. They swim into large groups with their mouth closed and open it up when they approach the prey scooping them up to be swallowed. The gulper eel primarily feeds on crustaceans, fish and cephalopods but may go after larger fish if food is scarce. When they gulp their prey, water rushes into the mouth, which balloons out the pelican-like pouch of their lower jaw. Once the prey is swept into the mouth the jaws snap shut. The water then escapes through the tiny gill openings, allowing the food to be swallowed. 

Gulper Eel: Reproduction

Much information is not available about the deepwater inhabitant - gulpers. The male gulpers possess large and elaborate olfactory organs which helps them to follow the female gulper for mating. It is difficult for them to find a mate in the deep waters as several other organisms live there. Hence, they attract their mates through bioluminescence. The females release pheromones which help the males to detect them. Once the males detect the female smell, they follow the smell to its source. It is believed that the eels die shortly after mating. Unlike other eels, when the gulper eels are born, they start with the leptocephalus stage. Till they reach the juvenile stage, they have very small bodies and do not have any red blood cells. 

Gulper Fish: Distribution and Habitat

The gulper fishes are located in the temperate and tropical areas of all oceans. They are majorly found in the Atlantic, central and eastern Pacific Oceans. They are generally found in the bathypelagic zone, which is in the extreme depth of the ocean, where there is no light and water pressure is very high. In the North Atlantic, they are found at the depths of 1600 - 9800 feet. There was one Canadian-arctic specimen that was found in the Davis Strait at a depth of 3,727–3,786 feet. The other animals found in the bathypelagic zone along with the gulpers are - vampire squid, giant squid, amphipod, slime stars, snake dragon fish, angelfish, and oarfish. 

Gulper Fish: Adaptations

The gulper fish has a number of adaptations that help them survive in the deep water. The first and the most unique adaptation is of their largemouth with the unhinged jaw. This helps them survive with little food in the depth of the oceans. Their mouth helps them to feed not only small organisms but also the organisms which are bigger than the gulper itself. 

The other adaptation is the presence of bioluminescence on the tip of its tail. This helps them to attract their prey as well as in finding their mates for reproduction. 

The third adaption is their body which resembles a snake with anal and dorsal fins helping them to swim though they are poor swimmers. They have a snout at the tip of their eye which helps them aid in information on distance, direction and movement of prey. The lateral line organs of the gulper’s body - the head and the upper jaw also aid in recognising movement and distance of the prey and the predators and also competitors. 

Gulper Eel: Nutrition

The gulper fish engulf its food by the quick and forward thrust of its body. Their large unhinged mouth helps them consume anything - from small fishes to the large animals which are larger than the eel itself. They have an elastic stomach that can accommodate larger prey. They scoop their prey and the surrounding water with their huge mouth. The water is then excreted out through their gills and teeth. Then the prey is surrounded by their elastic skin and pressed down their throat. It is believed by some scientists that there are some glands on the top of their mouth that releases enzymes to kill their prey. Their main diet includes crustaceans, fish, seaweed and cephalopods, such as squid and octopus. Their digestive system includes the buccal cavity, oesophagus, stomach and intestine. 

Gulper Eel: Interaction with Humans

Since the gulper eels live deep inside the oceans, there is much less interaction between the eels and humans. Whatever we know about them is from the specimens that were accidentally caught in deep-sea fishing nets. Though they were once regarded as a purely deep-sea species, after the year 1970, there were many specimens that were caught by the fishermen in the Atlantic Ocean mostly. 

Gulper Eel: Fun Facts

• Here are some interesting facts about the gulper eels:

• The mouth of the gulper fish is one-fourth the size of their body.

• Their stomachs are elastic.

• Though their mouths are big, their teeth are very small and it acts as a net. 

• In the scientific name of the gulper - Eurypharynx pelecanoides, pelecanoides refers to the pelicans as they have a pouch-like jaw like a pelican. 

• The deep black colour of their body makes them virtually invisible deep inside the ocean. 

• They have a very fragile body structure. If they are pulled up accidentally by the fishermen, their body gets damaged due to the change in water pressure and they become unrecognizable.

• They do not have a swim bladder. Rather, they have an aglomerular kidney that stores gelatinous matter and substitutes the swim bladder.

• Till the time they reach the juvenile stage, they remain completely transparent. 

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