Snapshots

MJA 2000; 173: 571

The shape of the upper gastrointestinal contrast study was striking. Where had I seen that shape before? After a moment's thought I recognised an uncanny resemblance to a wolf eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus).

Wolf eel and scuba-diver in the waters off the Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada. These deep-dwelling gentle creatures may grow up to 2.5 m in length and 18 kg in weight. They are indigenous to the waters of the Pacific Ocean from Southern California to the Aleutian Islands and may also be found in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan. In the past, some coastal native Americans referred to the wolf eel as the mukah (doctorfish). Only the medicine man in the tribe would eat the flesh in order to enhance his healing powers.1

John A M Taylor, DC
Associate Professor of Radiology
New York Chiropractic College
Seneca Falls, New York, USA

Robin H Barker
Photographer
West Vancouver, BC, Canada

1. Lamb A, Edgell P. Coastal fishes of the Pacific northwest. Madiera Park, BC: Harbor Publishing, 1986: 94.

©MJA 2000
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