Eels

A serpentine appearance might make eels seem intimidating, but they’re actually timid, graceful sea creatures.

The ABQ BioPark aquarium has several species of moray eels; the green moray eel, honeycomb moray eel, spotted moray eel and snowflake moray. All reside in the Shark Tank, with the exception of the snowflake moray, which lives in the Pacific Reef Tank.

Although morays are sometimes misunderstood as vicious, ill-tempered animals, they would rather flee than fight—in fact, these shy sea creatures spend much of their time hiding in the Shark Tank’s darker spots like a tunnel inside the landform in front of the Shark Reef Café.

These ambush predators can go for extended periods without eating, and may only pop out once or twice a week to grab a bit of mackerel or an occasional bit of herring. To coax the eels out during feeding time, divers tap a pair of tongs on the landform—an audible training technique that lets the eels associate the sound with food.

In addition to the moray eels, the Aquarium is also home to garden eels.

Garden eel at the Aquarium.