Fact Friday
Some cnidarians switch between a polyp and a medusa body form. Corals and anemones only have the polyp stage. Jellyfish, as we think of them, are in the medusa stage, but they have a polyp stage when they are juveniles. Hydrozoans have the opposite: their adult form is a polyp, but they have a juvenile medusa stage.
Photo Credit: KSLOF, Rob Martimbeault
April 18, 2025
Spotted Moray Eel
How do you eat when you don’t have appendages? Snakes on land have an expandable jaw that allows them to move their jaws forward in order to eat their prey whole. Eels do not have this capability. Eels, like this spotted moray eel (Gymnothorax moringa), have two sets of jaws to help them feed. The oral jaws capture the prey, while the phalangeal jaws reach towards the oral jaws to pull the prey into its throat.
Photo Credit: Andrew Bruckner
