The giant moray (''Gymnothorax javanicus'') is a species of

moray eel Moray eels, or Muraenidae (), 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 f ...

and a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of marine

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Muraenidae Moray eels, or Muraenidae (), 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 f ...

. In terms of body mass, it is the largest moray eel; however, the

slender giant moray The slender giant moray or Gangetic moray, ''Strophidon sathete'', is the longest member of the family of moray eels. It is in the genus ''Strophidon''. The longest recorded specimen was caught in 1927, on the Maroochy River in Queensland; it me ...

is the largest in terms of body length.Lieske, E. and Myers, R.F. (2004) ''Coral reef guide; Red Sea'' London, HarperCollins

Description

As the name suggests, the giant moray is a large

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

, reaching up to in length and in weight. Its elongated body is brownish in color. While juveniles are tan in color with large black spots, adults have black specks that grade into leopard-like spots behind the head.

Distribution and habitat

The giant moray is widespread in the Indo-Pacific region, being found from eastern coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

included, until the

Pitcairn The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four is ...

group, Hawaiian Islands and also

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

. North to south Japan and south to New Caledonia, Fiji and the

Austral Islands The Austral Islands (french: Îles Australes, officially ''Archipel des Australes;'' ty, Tuha'a Pae) are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic in the South Pacific. Geographically ...

. It lives in lagoons and on the outer slopes of coral reefs. During the day, it sits sheltered in crevices between 1 and 50 meters deep.

Biology

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''). 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 grouper. Similarly, the grouper hunting above the reef may cause prey to attempt to seek refuge in the reef, where the moray may ambush them. The giant moray mainly feeds on fish and occasionally on

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

s. This moray eel was recently identified as natural predator of the lionfish (''Pterois miles'') in its native habitat in the

. A mature giant moray has few natural predators, although it may compete for food with reef-dwelling sharks. Cleaner wrasses are commonly found in its presence, cleaning the interior of its mouth. ''Gymnothorax javanicus'' have been shown to have very small optic tectum volumes, indicating that they primarily hunt by smell rather than vision.

Hazards

This species may be hazardous to people. Being at the top of the

food chain A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web starting from producer organisms (such as grass or algae which produce their own food via photosynthesis) and ending at an apex predator species (like grizzly bears or killer whales), de ...

, it has been known to exhibit

biomagnification Biomagnification, also known as bioamplification or biological magnification, is any concentration of a toxin, such as pesticides, in the tissues of tolerant organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain. This increase can occur as a ...

of harmful

ciguatera Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), also known simply as ciguatera, is a foodborne illness caused by eating reef fish whose flesh is contaminated with certain toxins. Such individual fish are said to be ciguatoxic. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vom ...

toxins. Eating a giant moray, especially the liver, can thus cause illness, coma, or even death. While this moray may bite if threatened, cornered or in the presence of food,Siliotti, A. (2002) ''fishes of the red sea'' Verona, Geodia it is not usually aggressive.

Gallery

File:Moray6.jpg, Giant moray with cleaner wrasse File:Morena gigante (Gymnothorax javanicus), Ras Katy, Sharm el-Sheij, Egipto, 2022-03-26, DD 83.jpg, Within coral File:Giant Moray Eel getting cleaned.jpg, Getting cleaned File:Giant moray from the Red Sea.JPG, Giant moray from the Red Sea File:Gymnothorax javanicus (by night).webm

References

External links

Fishes of Australia : ''Gymnothorax javanicus''
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1515957 giant moray Marine fish of Northern Australia giant moray Apex predators Articles containing video clips