Jim the Moray Eel

19 Mar 2012 14:14:19

Jim the Moray Eel

Meet Jim - one of life's true survivors.

Jim is a special young Moray Eel who lives here at Sydney Aquarium.

Why is Jim so special, you ask? Well, young Jim is a bit of a mysterious chap, by all accounts. He was found by our aquarists whilst they were draining our shark oceanarium in preparation for the refurbishment work we're currently undertaking.

That's still not particularly exciting... Until you take into account that there have been no Moray Eels living in that tank for, ooh, around 12 years. What's more, young Jim was alone. You'd expect to find adult Moray Eels in a tank where you have babies, but upon completion of the draining process, no other eels were found. We didn't expect to find any adults, to be completely honest, because they were all accounted for when they were removed 12 long years ago.

So, our Jim is something of an enigma. Nobody really knows for certain exactly how he came to be in the tank.

Let's hear it for Jim!

3 facts about Jim:

• Jim is from one of about 200 recognised species of Moray Eel 
• Jim can live at depths of up to several hundred metres
• Jim is cool

Jim is currently living out back here at Sydney Aquarium, whilst we monitor him and ensure he's in good shape. Early signs are that Jim has been looking after himself well.

You can see our adult Moray Eels on display in the Southern Oceans area of the aquarium, not far from the octopus and Little Penguin exhibits.

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