You have no doubt heard the phrase slippery as an eel and a new study looking at baby Japanese eels specifically has revealed just how true that is. The skilled escape was captured via x-ray video and it shows a recently swallowed eel making its way in reverse up from the belly and out the gills of the fish.
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00:00You've no doubt heard the phrase slippery as an eel, and a new study looking at baby
00:07Japanese eels specifically has revealed just how true that is.
00:12This video was captured by researchers with Nagasaki University, and what you're seeing
00:16is an infant eel swimming backwards out of the stomach of a predator.
00:20The skilled escape was captured via x-ray video, and you can see the recently swallowed
00:24eel making its way in reverse, up from the belly and out the gills of the fish.
00:28The researchers say this is the first ever observation of an eel's escape from within
00:32the digestive tract of a predator.
00:34Adding about their findings, at this point the Japanese eel is the only species of fish
00:39confirmed to be able to escape from the digestive tract of the predatory fish after being captured.
00:44This escape route was first observed a couple of years ago, but this is the first time it
00:48was captured on x-ray video, which showed the whole process.
00:51In fact, experts initially believed that eels only made it as far as the fish's mouth, somehow
00:56preventing themselves from being swallowed before making their escape.
00:59However, this video clearly shows the eels are completely consumed before backing up
01:03the esophagus and out the gills.
01:05Experts say this not only provides new insights about the strength and acidic resiliency of
01:09these eels, but it also suggests that perhaps other creatures possess similar adaptations.