eels always look like they’re gasping for breath and it makes me worried

snowflakeeel:

That how they breathe. Water taste nice….

Eels have gills mostly protected under skin, with only small holes as outlets, as opposed to the plate-cover gills on most fish. They have to move their mouth in a large motion to fill the gills with water. The gif above is an excellent demonstration- see how the sides of her neck appear to widen as her gills fill with water? It’s then blown out a bit further back. The motion does look like gasping as compared to other fish, but they’re fine! That’s just Eel Physics.