That's a Moray Monday

No songs or mustached ladies this week! Back to regularly scheduled Moray Monday. And this week's feature is a favorite of moray-fans worldwide.

Zebra Moray
Gymnomuraena zebra

Shy and retiring, zebra morays hole up in crevices and under ledges on the wave-swept outer edges of coral reefs. At night they come out to hunt, prowling the reefs in search of crabs, clams and other hard-shelled prey. Their teeth tell the tale of their diet. While some morays have sharp, pointed teeth for grabbing and holding on to fishes and other slippery prey, zebra morays have flat, platelike teeth, perfect for crunching hard shells. Stomach contents of captured Zebra morays have included crabs and other reef crustaceans, clams and other mollusks, as well as sea urchins.

The Zebra moray has a tremendous range: In the Indo-Pacific, it can be found from the Red Sea and East Africa to the Society Islands, north to the Ryukyu and Hawaiian islands, and south to the Great Barrier Reef. In the Eastern Central Pacific, it occurs from southern Baja, Mexico and from Guatemala to northern Columbia, including the Galapagos.

This moray generally exhibits a rusty-brown to blackish overall body coloration with its most distinctive feature being close-set narrow white bands running vertically along the length of its body. This coloration is reminiscent of the banding commonly seen on zebras, hence the common name. Such disruptive patterns, frequently a part of camouflage coloration, helps break up an animal's outline. Theoretically, this makes it difficult for other animals to spot it. You'd think that the black and white stripes of the Zebra moray would make it easy for prey (or predators) to see it. However in its dark and shaded reef habitat, the black and white stripes of the Zebra moray help it blend into the dark and irregularly shaped coral nooks and crannies.

Collected specimens of Zebra moray have been measured at lengths of up to 150 cm (4.9 feet).