Giant moray

Photo: floris_heemskerk · CC BY-NC

The largest moray eel species, reaching up to 3 metres and commonly seen with just its head protruding from reef crevices, mouth opening and closing to pump oxygenated water over its gills — a behaviour often misread as aggression. Giant morays have poor eyesight and hunt by smell; they are not aggressive toward divers unless provoked or hand-fed. A cooperative hunting relationship with roving coral grouper has been documented, where grouper signal moray eels to flush prey from crevices. An ancient, alien-looking presence on any reef.