If it does not have something that catches your attention, it is not a moray. Dragon moray eel, for example, has such qualifications. A dragon moray aka leopard moray or tiger moray, is a striking creature with dramatic colors and patterns all over. Looks can be deceiving, but these predators are exactly what they look like. Want to find out why? Check out more below.
1Appearance
A dragon moray eel is a large eel species that can reach a length of up to 92 centimeters. Its body is long and muscular, while its tail is flattened, which aids in swimming. Just like other moray eels out there, this one has narrow and curved jaws, but the difference is in the colors. A dragon moray eel has vivid red stripes on its head, and an orange-brown body with dramatic patterns, spots, and streaks. The combination of black, red, orange, yellow, and white makes this eel species absolutely striking to look at. One of the main features of dragon moray eels is the two sets of nostrils that they have. The anterior nostrils are at the end of their nose, and the posterior nostrils are in front of their eyes. The second set looks like horns, and they probably help pinpoint odor sources while hunting.
Going back to the jaws, they are filled with fang-like canine teeth that can deliver powerful bites. These eels cannot close their jaws, so they always look like they are ready to strike at any time. The jaws don’t end there; there is a second set of jaws in their throat called pharyngeal jaws. When feeding, this moray latches onto the prey with its outer jaws. Then it pushes their pharyngeal jaws that are set back in the pharynx, forward into the mouth. These jaws then grasp the prey and pull it into the throat and stomach. Also, morays are the only fish that use pharyngeal jaws to capture prey.
2Behavior
Looking menacing and everything, dragon moral eels are not aggressive. However, they are not afraid to use their teeth to defend their shelter. This is why it is not uncommon for divers who randomly reach into crevices and holes to be attacked. Because the eels have backward-curving teeth, their bites cause ragged wounds, and that is painful. More than that, the wounds are prone to infection from the bacteria in the eel’s mouth. Aggressiveness aside, a dragon moray eel has a special ability to spontaneously change its gender. It is due to the lack of sufficient numbers of the opposite sex to keep the population stable.
3Feeding & Habitats
This moray eel species has a wide distribution throughout the Indo-Pacific oceans, inhabiting coral and rocky reefs. Dragon moray eels like to shelter in reef crevices during the day, and they come out to hunt at night. Across their habitats, dragon moray eels feed on crustaceans, fishes, and small cephalopods. Their large and powerful, sharp jaws can grasp and hold prey in place, and there is no escape once caught. Despite the poor eyesight, detecting prey is never difficult for them due to their excellent sense of smell. When dealing with larger prey, they can even knot their body to gain leverage, how impressive is that? Being so strong, dragon moray eels don’t have a lot of predators. Some of those few ones are barracuda, grouper, sharks, and humans.
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