In Space...

Alien, argueably the greatest horror film of all time, scares the living bejeesus out of you by introducing an incredibly frightening creature that makes it's grand entrance in the most horrific way possible. Directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator), Alien is a genre film in a class of it's own.

The Alien, designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger, has some rather interesting anatomical characteristics to make it truly scary: to whit - no eyes, completely black, insectoid configuration and last but not least, a nasty set of interior pharyngeal jaws used to finish the job of killing prey.

Well, it seems earth has an alien of it's own, the Moray Eel, a top predator that uses it's own set of pharyngeal jaws to wolf down squid and other such delicacies in the tight confines of reef nooks and crannies where the animal lives. To see how the eel does it, click on the image below. The video linked to the article will blow you away. (Note, the eel has an undeservedly bad reputation. "In fact, morays are shy and secretive, and they only attack humans in self-defense. They also accidentally bite human fingers when being fed, because it cannot see or hear very well, although they have an acute sense of smell.")

Click here to see how Morays and Groupers cooperate on catching prey.

H. R. Giger, the Swiss artist who created the alien for the director Ridley Scott, was amused by the researchers’ discovery.

“It’s funny,” he said. “The double teeth came when I did my first drawings. Ridley Scott told me to make it so that it could move. I hadn’t studied any animal. My instructions were that it should be somehow frightening and horrible, and I did my best.”