Tesselate Moray Eels are dangerous tropical predators which can be found around the Indian and Pacific Oceans hiding in crevices and caves. They are able to manoeuvre their body into all sorts of spaces and are masters of escaping so we need to make sure there is now way they can find a way out of their tank.
The Tessellate Moray Eels are very easy to spot due to their white/yellow body with a brown leopard spotted pattern. Their patterned has created many different names for these eels including Leopard Eel, Black-blotched Moray and Honeycomb Eel. However you are best admiring these animals from a distance as they are very aggressive to both fish and humans. Although they don’t have strong eyesight their sense of makes up for this which allows them to detect prey especially in the dark caves. They prefer to hunt at night as they have the advantage over fish who rely more heavily on their eyesight. They have canine like teeth that are designed for tearing flesh rather than grinding food down so if you were to get bitten by one it would be very painful.
Type
Fish: skilled ambush predator
What do they eat?
smaller fish and octopus
Size
Max 275cm
Water Type
Salt Water
Where are we?
Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean
See Us At
Predators
They spend a lot of time sitting still so have adapted to be able to do this safely. Although large in size they can still fall victim to predators so have a poisonous skin which can be fatal if ingested and can even cause pain to some animals by just rubbing against it. They are also often seen with their mouths wide open as if they are ready to pounce but are in fact pumping water through their mouth and over their gills, so they can breathe while sitting still.