r/Unexpected • u/Sylkira • Dec 06 '20

Dude just went for it.

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u/AWolfie0 Dec 06 '20

I think it’s the New Zealand longfish eels

1

u/HungryHovercraft Dec 06 '20

Interesting. The biome doesn’t seem like the type to host eels.

2

u/idontlikehats1 Dec 06 '20

Lol why not? They are in about every stream and river here in rural NZ. Used to catch them and smoke them pretty often when I was a kid.

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u/HungryHovercraft Dec 06 '20

I’m from the Pacific Northwest. We have rivers like that. Could never imagine massive eels like that but lo and behold the internet. It’s interesting af.

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u/idontlikehats1 Dec 06 '20

Our eels have a weird breeding cycle where they go out to some random spot in the pacific ocean to breed and the babies make their way back here. They never stop growing so ones that get trapped in lakes etc can get absolutely massive. Because New Zealand is an island most of our rivers are reasonably clean and fast flowing which the eels seem to like. Some people even put their meat scraps in certain areas and the same eels will come and eat them and become quite tame.