American eel (anguilla rostrata) are freshwater fish with long, slender bodies that we can treat as uniform cylinders 1.0 m long and 10 cm in diameter. an eel compensates for its small jaw and teeth by holding onto prey with its mouth and then rapidly spinning its body around its long axis to tear off a piece of flesh. eels have been recorded to spin at up to 14 revolutions per second when feeding in this way. although this feeding method is costly in terms of energy, it allows the eel to feed on larger prey than it otherwise could.