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A giant moray emerging from its crevice, spotted yellow head and mouth open, a cleaner wrasse against its flank

Giant moray

Gymnothorax javanicus

Animal

The giant moray is the biggest of all morays, reaching 3 meters and 30 kilos. Not shy and without venom, it hides by day in crevices on reef slopes across the Indo-Pacific, Red Sea included.

Where to dive to see the giant moray?

How do you identify a giant moray?

The giant moray, Gymnothorax javanicus, is the biggest moray species: up to 3 meters and 30 kilos, although the ones you meet on a dive are much smaller. The snake-like body is brown and covered in dark spots, the head is yellowish and the gill openings are ringed in black. It keeps its mouth open for much of the day to oxygenate its gills.

Where does the giant moray live?

It lives in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, from the coasts of East Africa and the Red Sea to Polynesia, and from southern Japan to New Caledonia. You find it on outer reef slopes and in lagoons down to 50 meters; the young stay in shallow lagoons. By day it rests in a crevice among the corals. At night it hunts, mostly fish, sometimes crustaceans.

Is the giant moray dangerous?

Sluggish and not shy, it lets you approach. It has no venom, but it bites if you grab it or slip an arm into its den, and the wound needs thorough cleaning. The rest is legend: few sea creatures have more false stories attached to them. Its second set of jaws, which pulls prey back into the esophagus, inspired the creature in the film Alien.

Our tip

It keeps its mouth open to breathe, not to threaten. Watch it from a distance, never slip a hand or an arm toward its den, and don't feed it.

Image credits

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