Allow me to introduce you to Muraenidae Family, more commonly known as moray eels. These creatures live in primarily brackish sections of the ocean, usually several hundred meters below the surface of the water. A few species do live in freshwater areas however, although these are the rarities of the family. When it comes to the size of these creatures, it can actually vary quite a bit. Some species are only a few inches in length while the slender giant moray have been seen as long as over 13 feet.
Why do I bring up these aquatic nightmares? For a very simple reason: they’ve got a striking similarity to H.R. Giger’s “Xenomorph” in that they too have a second set of jaws that emerge when an eel catches its prey.
Here’s how it works: The eel bites onto a smaller creature, such as a crab, with its front jaws. These are merely grips to hold the food in place. What comes next are a second set of jaws called “pharyngeal jaws”. The pharyngeal jaws are located in the throat of the moray and will snap forward to grab the prey and drag it down into the eel where it then gets swallowed whole.
This secondary set of jaws actually look like a second mouth, making it a terrifying nightmare of the depths. Alien had the tagline, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” The same thing can be said about the ocean.
You can watch a documentary clip about the moray eel and the pharyngeal jaws it possesses below.