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Moray eels, or Muraenidae (/ ˈ m ɒr eɪ, m ə ˈ r eɪ /), are a family of eels whose members are found worldwide. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera which are almost exclusively marine , but several species are regularly seen in brackish water , and a few are found in fresh water .
The California moray (Gymnothorax mordax) is a moray eel of the family Muraenidae, found in the eastern Pacific from just north of Santa Barbara to Santa Maria Bay in Baja California. [2] They are the only species of moray eel found off California, and one of the few examples of a subtropical moray.
The freshwater moray has very small teeth in proportion to the size of its head, and, like all moray eels, is carnivorous. Its diet consists almost entirely of fish, and occasionally shrimp, bivalves, and worms, and it prefers to eat live food. Like many moray eels, it has poor vision but an excellent sense of smell, and it can be aggressive. [5]
The giant moray is carnivorous and nocturnal, hunting its prey within the reef. It is known to engage in cooperative hunting with the roving coral grouper ( Plectropomus pessuliferus ). [ 7 ] These two fish species are complementary hunters: While the eel hunts in the reef, it may scare prey up and out of the reef, leaving them to be eaten by ...
The Mediterranean moray spends most of the day in cavities and clefts between rocks and is more active at night. It hunts fish, crabs and cephalopods, [3] but also feeds on dead animals. The Mediterranean moray's reproduction is not well known. They spawn about 60,000 eggs into open water, from which planktonic transparent leptocephali hatch.
The snowflake moray (Echidna nebulosa), also known as the clouded moray among many vernacular names, is a species of marine eel of the family Muraenidae. [3] It has blunt teeth ideal for its diet of crustaceans, a trait it shares with the zebra moray ( Gymnomuraena zebra ).
Most eels live in the shallow waters of the ocean and burrow into sand, mud, or amongst rocks. A majority of eel species are nocturnal and thus are rarely seen. Sometimes, they are seen living together in holes, or "eel pits". Some species of eels live in deeper water on the continental shelves and over the slopes deep as 4,000 metres (13,000 ft).
This moray eel was recently identified as a natural predator of the lionfish Pterois miles in its native habitat in the Red Sea. [5] The shrimp-like crustacean Stenopus pyrsonotus, has often been found in close proximity with a yellow-edged moray eel, leading to the possibility that the shrimp may enter into a cleaning symbiosis with the eel. [6]