Fimbriated moray

Gelbkopfmuräne ( Gymnothorax fimbriatus )

The Gelbkopfmuräne ( Gymnothorax fimbriatus ) lives in the tropical Indo-Pacific from Madagascar and Mauritius to the Society Islands, north to southern Japan, throughout Micronesia, and south to the coast of Queensland. It inhabits mainly reef flats and outer reefs and lagoons at depths of 3 to 50 meters. The fish penetrate into the harbor and estuaries.

Features

The Gelbkopfmuräne is 80 to 90 inches long and is sturdily built. Head and neck are yellowish, the rest of the body dirty white with black, oblong or round, wide-set stains. In young animals the spots are proportionally larger. Gender differences are not known. They are easy to confuse with other yellow -headed moray eels. When Gelbstirnmuräne ( Gymnothorax rueppellii ) but only the forehead is usually yellow, the Marmormuräne ( Gymnothorax undulatus) has a light mesh pattern on a dark background and only sometimes a yellow head.

Way of life

Gelbkopfmuränen are solitary, but often live with smaller moray eels, as the white eye moray eel ( Gymnothorax thrysoideus ) together. You are probably nocturnal and feed on fish, crabs, cuttlefish and octopus.