Laced moray

Biology

The laced moray owes its name to its yellowish background colour dotted with numerous black spots. Serpentine in body shape it can reach three metres in size. Lives hidden in caves and crevices of coral reefs or rock where it finds its favourite meal – the octopus. Like many other morays, it attacks when it feels threatened and bigger individuals can cause severe wounds.

Curiosities

The laced moray is one of the largest morays in the Indo-Pacific. The spots on the moray’s body vary depending on the environment it lives in: morays living on a reef with clear water will have fewer black spots than those of a turbid environment. Sometimes, by accumulating toxins from the animals on which it feeds, the flesh can become toxic and cause ciguatera (food poisoning).