Skip to main content
Moray Eel

Fish · Least Concern

Moray Eel

Gymnothorax javanicus

About

The giant moray is a moray eel in the family Muraenidae. By body mass it is the heaviest of the moray eels, though the slender giant moray surpasses it in sheer length.

Family
Muraenidae
Avg size
150-240 cm
Habitat
It is widespread across the Indo-Pacific, ranging from the east African coast, including the Red Sea, to the Pitcairn group, the Hawaiian Islands and Polynesia, north to southern Japan and south to New Caledonia, Fiji and the Austral Islands. It inhabits lagoons and the outer slopes of coral reefs, sheltering by day in crevices at depths between about 1 and 50 metres.
Behaviour
The giant moray is a nocturnal carnivore that hunts through the reef, and it is known to team up with the roving coral grouper (Plectropomus pessuliferus) in cooperative hunts. The two are complementary: the eel flushes prey out of the reef toward the grouper, while the grouper hunting above drives prey down into the reef where the moray can ambush it. Its diet is mainly fish with the occasional crustacean, and it was recently identified as a natural predator of the lionfish (Pterois miles) in its native Red Sea range.

Where & when

Where & When to See It

More Fish