On a recent swim, I saw this Peppered Moray Eel zipping towards me in fairly shallow water. My response was to start taking photos. The eel’s response was to stop dead, raise its head up, and give me a decidedly unimpressed look.
We held our positions for a short while and then I edged off to one side and the eel did the same, before deciding enough was enough and scooting to sanctuary under a large rock.
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 143. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 142. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.
I saw this Dwarf Moray Eel moving forward at a good clip. Then it spotted me, gave me a look, turned around, and headed right back where it came from. Just its head peeked out as it waited for me to move along and leave it to go its own way.
Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.
A couple of creatures in the water that are like to blend into the background. The Titan Scorpionfish is fairly easy to spot in this one, but the Whitemouth Moray Eel is a bit trickier.
Peppered Moray Eels live in shallow waters, including tide pools and ponds. My fish book describes them as bold and active, and notes that they will even launch themselves out of the water, onto the rocks, trying to catch crabs, their primary prey.
So it’s somewhat surprising that, while I have probably seen glimpses of this eel, these are the first photos I’ve taken of one. This one was swimming along and, obligingly, continued to do so for a while, without disappearing into a crack or hole.
I saw this Undulated Moray Eel out in the open recently and, rather than dart for shelter, it remained where it was opening and closing its jaws. While this looks threatening, it’s typical of most eels, the purpose being to push water over its gills, the equivalent of breathing. However, that’s not to say it’s a good idea to dive down and interact with the eel.
My fish book describes the Undulated Moray Eel as “one of the nastiest.” Its narrow jaws hold three rows of teeth, one running down the middle of its mouth. It’s usual prey includes small fish, but this eel was accompanied by a changing group of fish, and neither seemed too bothered about the other.
In Hawaii, this eel is often called the chainlink eel, for obvious reasons.
At one of my regular snorkeling spots, there’s a spot I call The Eel Motel. It’s a little hole in the rock, which is often occupied by a small Whitemouth Moray Eel or Yellowhead Moray Eel. On this visit, the former was home.
In the top photo, the eel’s head is on the left and its tail on the right. Even though the eel has its mouth closed, the white tip to the tail is another sure identifier. I drifted above it, taking photos, while its head twisted back and forth keeping track of me.
The markings on these eels can vary quite a bit, one of which is a full spread of bold white spots, such as these.
Graham's Island 