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November 07, 2002 - Mystery of an eel's last mealThe Suffolk Times •November 7, 2002 M iviystery o an eel's last meal This American eel is being held to show the predicament it got itself into by trying to swallow a small mantis shrimp. Below: a view of a mantis shrimp from above and a front view show- ing its powerful eyes. Times /Review photos by Barbara Stoutenburgh How MANY OF YOU HAVE ever gone elighting for eels? I have been told spearing fish and eels that were blind - e idea originated with the Indians. ed by the light. The modern version is ley used reed torches at night and to use gas or electric lights, but the ilked along our creek and bay edges principle is the same. In order to see, wiiuuions nave to . just right; Focus no wind, clear ON water and a moderately low MATURE tide. Put all that by Paul together in the Stoutenburgh fall of the year and you're bound to get a mess of fat eels that have come into our creeks to hibernate in the mud foi the winter. And so it was with my son and his 14- year -old son when they prepared tc enter the fascinating world of night- time eeling. They had been looking forward to this outing for some time, but when they were ready, the condi- tions weren't right. So they had to put it off until one night last week, when they pushed out into the creek at low tide to be absorbed into the wonders and excitement of firelighting. Everyone knows how slippery an eel can be. Once you've speared one, getting it into the tub becomes an operation you can only appreciate by being there. Usually you have some sort of paddle to knock the eel off the spear, hopefully having it fall into the tub. But my experience has been that's not always the case. Remember, that eel is pretty mad, and is jumping and twisting about. It sometimes does- n't even make it into the tub. It squirms around in the bottom of the boat while all the time you're trying to pick it up. It slips through your fingers leaving a mess of slime on your hands. But all that's forgotten in the excite- ment of spearing eels. Needless to say, my grandson was having the time of his life. Sure, he missed a few, but that didn't matter; he was firelighting for eels. Then he speared one that made his dad look twice. He'd never seen anything like it before. What my grandson had speared was an eel with a small mantis shrimp stuck in its mouth. Whether that mantis shrimp was too big to be swallowed and would have caused that eers aeatn is subject to speculation. It would have died one way or the other, by choking or being speared. What appeared to have happened is that the eel was able to open its jaw just wide enough to take in the small mantis shrimp, but not wide enough to swallow it completely. That's when it was speared. Here was a glimpse into just how savage the underwater world is. Some of you might be wondering what a mantis shrimp is. It is one of the fiercest animals found in the marine world. This mantis shrimp looks somewhat like a giant crayfish. It grows from eight to 10 inches in length. It also looks something like a lobster but smaller and without the big claws. They are found in our creeks and bays, where they burrow into the mud and hide to wait for some unsuspecting prey to pass by. It also finds its prey by stalking about the bottom and striking swiftly with its powerful raptorial limbs, somewhat like the praying mantis we see in our gardens. They are deadly fast and accurate and once a victim is spotted, it seldom gets away. Ironically, here was an eel preying on one of these small killer mantis shrimp. Occasionally when I've cleaned a weakfish or a bluefish I have also found small mantis shrimp half digest- ed in its gut. It's like I've often said, "It's a world of eat or be eaten." The mantis shrimp is most active at night and often lies in wait in the mouth of its burrow for some fish or crustacean to move by. It has powerful eyes that sit out on the end of stalks, much like crabs and lob- sters. With these super eyes, it picks up any movement and with a swift swipe of its powerful mandibles, it can cut a fish or crab in half. Few people realize we have these mantis shrimp in our local waters because they are so secretive, but ask any commercial bayman and he'll know exactly what we're talking about. He also knows how dangerous those mandibles can be. You don't pick these mantis shrimp up casually for they act with tremendous speed and great cutting ability. Some call With a swift swipe of Its powerful mandibles, a mantis shrimp can cut a fish or crab in half. them "shrimp snappers" because of the quick snapping of their mandibles. They also have a lot of barbs on their mandibles, so that once it hooks into something like a fish, it can pull it in and then have a meal. My grandson's world expanded with his eeling trip, for not only did he see eels and the mantis shrimp, there were other fish to be seen. Big snappers would occasionally dart into the light and then they'd be gone. It would take many a try before the spear would find its mark on one of Then at the headwaters f the creek where the alinity was lower, they ound white perch. They are about 10 inches in length, heavily scaled and good eating. They are built something like a porgy with the same sharp upper fins that make the porgy so difficult to handle. Here again the spear struck out but hardly ever hit its mark. Often they'd see. the long green -bill eel lying quietly just below the sur- face. With its long bill fitted with sharp needle -like teeth, it feeds on shiners, shrimp, killifish or any other small fish. This predator that grows from 10 to 12 inches or more in length moves like a live torpedo. Add these prowlers of the night to the excite- ment of spearing eels, and you can get a young boy hooked. What a great way to spend an evening! P.S. Next year he'll learn the art of cleanine eels.