Mediterranean Moray

Photo: frahome · CC BY-NC

Mediterranean morays reach densities at Garajau that are exceptional even by protected-area standards, with individual eels occupying permanent crevices in basalt boulders from the shallows down to 30 metres and living up to 15 years in the same den. Their role as nocturnal ambush predators of octopus, cuttlefish, and injured fish helps prevent any single invertebrate group from dominating the benthic zone, and cooperative hunting partnerships with groupers have been documented at this reserve — a behaviour only recently confirmed for Atlantic moray populations. Night dives at Garajau consistently produce encounters with eels actively pursuing prey across open sand, their muscular bodies undulating with surprising speed outside the dens they appear so sedentary in by day.