Steel Eel

Steel Eels are Boss Salmonids that appear in Salmon Run in Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3.

Description
The Steel Eel consists of a Salmonid piloting the machine at the tail and a giant steel fish head and jerrycans shooting down ink, similarly to a Splash Wall. Steel Eels are very long, making it easy to get cornered. The jerrycans on its body can instantly kill players with direct hits and block attacks. The only way to destroy this machine is to splat the Salmonid piloting it at the rear.

Quotes
The following text is quoted from the Salmonid Field Guide.


 * Basic Information
 * It's a weapon made of connected ink-spraying devices for the suppression of large areas.
 * It locks on to and relentlessly pursues a single target.


 * Attack Behavior
 * Its extensive length is used to block routes as it rains down ink.


 * Elimination
 * It can be neutralized by shooting the driver in the very rear of the Steel Eel.


 * Supporting Information
 * The driver of the Steel Eel wears a mask to protect itself from the spray generated by the machine.
 * The great length of the Steel Eel is attributable to the large number of interconnected ink sprayers used to create it.

Tips

 * A Steel Eel only targets one player.
 * The player being targeted should coordinate their movement with the work crew's location, keeping crewmates safe and exposing the Steel Eel's weak point to them.
 * If the targeted player travels behind the Steel Eel, the Steel Eel will do a U-turn and potentially trap the player or a crewmate.
 * The Steel Eel's pilot looks directly at the player it is targeting. Be careful if it is looking at you.
 * If a player is being chased and gets on a propeller platform, or the chased player is splatted, the Steel Eel will immediately start chasing another crewmate.
 * Steel Eels are tall enough that they are still capable of splatting Inkjet users. However, players are capable of getting over a Steel Eel if they boost.
 * Sometimes, there may be multiple Steel Eels moving in a straight line. If this happens, immediately go to the back of the line and splat the pilot and repeat. Another strategy is to have the Steel Eels to chase different crewmates and break up the line.
 * Splat Bombs explode instantly on contact with the Steel Eel's ink spray. Use this to your advantage if you want to quickly dispatch weaker or weakened Salmonids.
 * Steel Eels drop their eggs where the pilot is located.
 * When luring a Steel Eel towards the basket, make sure the Steel Eel is destroyed when the pilot is closest to the basket.

Badges
Splatting Steel Eels a specific number of times in Salmon Run: Next Wave will reward the player with special badges that they can use on their Splashtag.

Trivia

 * The mask worn by the Salmonid driver of a Steel Eel is a typical mask worn in Japan when a person is ill.
 * The pilot of the Steel Eel has a reflective marking on its fin that resembles a stylized Golden Egg.
 * Its design could be a reference to the real-life Eurypharynx pelecanoides, also known as Pelican or Gulper Eel.
 * Steel Eels will go out of their way to avoid Flipper-Flopper rings that are filled in with the players' ink.