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Chain Moray Eel

Echidna catenata

Description:

Photo take in shallow water at -20 ft near the coast this beauty just swim on top of the reef bottom, about 40 cm long yellow and brown dark spots all along the body, is no common to see.Body long and snake-like, without pectoral or ventral fins; dorsal, tail and anal fins form a single, long, continuous fin that begins behind the head, encircles the tail and extends midway down the belly. Body scale-less and coated with a clear, protective mucus layer. Body heavy, dark brown to black, with irregular, often interconnected, bright yellow chain-like markings. Eyes yellow.

Habitat:

Prefer shallow, clear-water reefs and rocky shores, down to 12 meters. Hide during the day in recesses; heads often extend from openings. Forage in open at night, occasionally in tidal zones where they feed on crabs. Constantly open and close mouth in order to move water through their gills for respiration. Found from Florida all the Caribbean sea , Central America to Brazil. Marine Species

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4 Comments

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 11 years ago

Thanks Scott :)

ScottHarte
ScottHarte 11 years ago

Great color and pattern on that eel, nice spot

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 11 years ago

Thanks Sergio :)

Sergio Monteiro
Sergio Monteiro 11 years ago

Moray eels are cool!

Gerardo Aizpuru
Spotted by
Gerardo Aizpuru

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Spotted on Sep 9, 2012
Submitted on Sep 9, 2012

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