Giant moray
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| Giant moray | ||||||||||||||
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| Gymnothorax javanicus (Bleeker, 1859) |
The giant moray is the largest of the Moray eels.[1]
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[edit] Range
The giant moray is widespread in the Indo-Pacific region, being found in the Red Sea and East Africa, the Pitcairn group, north to the Ryukyu and Hawaiian islands, south to New Caledonia and the Austral Islands.
[edit] Description
As the name suggests, this is a large eel, reaching up to 300cm in length and 30kg in weight. While juveniles are tan in colour with large black spots, adults have black specks that grade into leopard-like spots behind the head and a black area surrounding the gill opening.[2]
[edit] Diet
Primarily fish but also crustaceans.[1]
[edit] Habitat
Found in lagoons and seaward reefs.
[edit] Hazards
This species may be hazardous to humans in two ways:
- Being at the top of the food chain it is likely to cause ciguatera poisoning if eaten.[1][2]
- It has been implicated in provoked and unprovoked attacks on scuba divers.[1][2][3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Lieske, E. and Myers, R.F. (2004) Coral reef guide; Red Sea London, HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-715986-2
- ^ a b c "Gymnothorax javanicus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. 5 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
- ^ Siliotti, A. (2002) fishes of the red sea Verona, Geodia ISBN 88-87177-42-2
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