That's A Moray Monday

What happens when you flaunt your moray fetish publicly? You find other moray fans. Such is the case when I pleasantly discovered that Christopher Taylor had linked to Moray Monday on his fantastic blog, Catalogue of Organisms. I'm so happy that someone else is reading this weekly series that I won't even make fun of his funny bizarre quaint Oz spelling of "Catalog."

This week, I'm featuring a moray with a face and apparent smile that you just might call cute.

Tiger Snake Moray or Tiger Reef Eel
Scuticaria tigrina

This extremely secretive eel inhabits lagoons and seaward reefs on sand and between rocks. Usually only seen at night, the Tiger Snake moray is yellowish to russet brown in color, with yellow-edged black spots. It has a rounded snout with a black-speckled jaw.

In the Indo-Pacific, the Tiger Snake moray ranges from East Africa to the Society Islands, north to the Philippines, Taiwan, and the Hawaiian Islands. The species is also observed in the Eastern Central Pacific, from Mexico (including the Revillagigedo Islands), to Costa Rica and Panama. Stomach contents from collected specimens has reveals a varied diet consisting of octopus, squid, and cuttlefish; benthic gastropods and bivalves; crustaceans (shrimps/crabs); and mobile benthic worms.

The remarkable coloration and docile nature of this eel has made it a highly sought after species for the marine aquarium trade. Like many aquarium species, the fisheries for the Tiger Snake moray is poorly regulated and lacks monitoring to protect against local depletion or potential negative impacts to reef food webs.