Turkey moray

Gymnothorax meleagris

The turkey moray ,also known as the guineafowl moray or as the white-mouth/whitemouth moray is a species of marine fish in the family Muraenidae.
White Mouth VS White Eyed This White Mouth Moray Eel - Gymnothorax meleagris was seen sharing the same house with a White-Eyed Moral Eel - Gymnothorax thyrsoideus. Anilao,Batangas,Gymnothorax meleagris,Moray,Moray Eel,Philippines,Turkey moray

Appearance

The turkey moray is a medium size moray which can reach a maximum length of 120 cm, but specimens usually encountered are much smaller.
Its serpentine in shape body has a dark brown to black background color dotted with numerous small white spots uniformly distributed.
The inside of its mouth is completely white.
Whitemouth Moray Eel (Gymnothorax meleagris) An encounter on the reef - a Whitemouth Moray Eel (Gymnothorax meleagris), Maui, Hawaii 2016 Gymnothorax meleagris,Hawaii,Maui,Turkey moray,Whitemouth Moray Eel,reef species

Distribution

The white-mouth moray is widespread throughout the Indo-Pacific area from eastern coast of Africa, Red Sea included, until Polynesia and Hawaii and from south Japan to New Caledonia.
This is a relatively rare moray even within its distribution area except in Hawaii , where it seems to be common.

It likes shallow waters from lagoons and reefs rich in coral and fish life until 36 meters deep, spending time in holes in the reef to quickly emerge to grasp passing fish by surprise attack. They sense prey by detecting smell through the water.
Open Wide This is a close-up of the wide opened mouth of White-Mouth Moray Eel - Gymnothorax meleagris.
Moray eels have two sets of jaws: 1) the oral jaws that capture prey; and 2) the pharyngeal jaws that advance into the mouth and move prey from the oral jaws to the esophagus for swallowing. The first picture is an effort to capture this second pharyngeal jaws, but it is too difficult to capture that in a photo :( Anilao,Eel,Fall,Geotagged,Gymnothorax meleagris,Moray Eel,Philippines,Turkey moray

Behavior

The turkey moray seems to be equally active day and night and feeds on small fish and occasionally crustaceans.
White-Mouth Moray Eel - Gymnothorax meleagris This Moray Eel - Gymnothorax meleagris is light brown in colour with white spots all over the body. Anilao,Eel,Fall,Geotagged,Gymnothorax meleagris,Moray Eel,Philippines,Turkey moray

Habitat

The white-mouth moray is widespread throughout the Indo-Pacific area from eastern coast of Africa, Red Sea included, until Polynesia and Hawaii and from south Japan to New Caledonia.
This is a relatively rare moray even within its distribution area except in Hawaii , where it seems to be common.

It likes shallow waters from lagoons and reefs rich in coral and fish life until 36 meters deep, spending time in holes in the reef to quickly emerge to grasp passing fish by surprise attack. They sense prey by detecting smell through the water.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderAnguilliformes
FamilyMuraenidae
GenusGymnothorax
SpeciesG. meleagris