Giant moray
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[Photo] Giant Moray Eel (Gymnothorax javanicus), Red Sea. 1982. Author Albert Kok (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Albert_Kok)

The giant moray is the largest of the Moray eels.

Range
The giant moray is widespread in the Indo-Pacific region, being found in the Red Sea and East Africa, the Pitcairn group, north to the Ryukyu and Hawaiian islands, south to New Caledonia and the Austral Islands.

Description
As the name suggests, this is a large eel, reaching up to 300cm in length and 30kg in weight. While juveniles are tan in colour with large black spots, adults have black specks that grade into leopard-like spots behind the head and a black area surrounding the gill opening.

Diet
Primarily fish but also crustaceans.

Habitat
Found in lagoons and seaward reefs.

Hazards
This species may be hazardous to humans in two ways:

Being at the top of the food chain it is likely to cause ciguatera poisoning if eaten.
It has been implicated in provoked and unprovoked attacks on scuba divers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_moray

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