Ultra-black eels keep independently evolving in the deep sea, and researchers now think they know why — as camouflage to lure prey closer with their glowing tails before engulfing them in their terrifying mouths.
The discovery, made by analyzing eels from the clade Anguilloidei (which includes freshwater eels, spaghetti eels and transparent onejaw eels) found that tar-like pigmentation likely evolved independently multiple times: in the ancestors of the lure-waving pelican eels (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) and swallower eels, as well as bobtail eels, snipe eels, and sawtooth eels.
