That seems to be a Nile tilapia it's choking on, an invasive african species. The reason why it's stuck is not due to the size, but that tilapia (and many other fish that size) have these nasty anti-predator spines on their backs that only pop out facing backwards, which is why the eel is trying to eat it head first.
However, it seems the fish got sent backwards somehow, perhaps the eel was trying to spit it out, and thus those spines lifted up and got stuck in the lower jaw of the eel. Since eels need to constantly gulp water to breath, this guy didn't end up so lucky.
gregomano2 on March 1st, 2020 at 02:52 UTC »
ha. stupid eel
ladybasecamp on March 1st, 2020 at 03:05 UTC »
That is super cool and worthy of r/natureismetal!
Glad you didn't trip on it, that would have been disgusting
Calm_Hawk on March 1st, 2020 at 04:50 UTC »
That seems to be a Nile tilapia it's choking on, an invasive african species. The reason why it's stuck is not due to the size, but that tilapia (and many other fish that size) have these nasty anti-predator spines on their backs that only pop out facing backwards, which is why the eel is trying to eat it head first.
However, it seems the fish got sent backwards somehow, perhaps the eel was trying to spit it out, and thus those spines lifted up and got stuck in the lower jaw of the eel. Since eels need to constantly gulp water to breath, this guy didn't end up so lucky.