Moray eels

Moray eels (Muraenidae) are present in all the seas of the planet, with the exception of the Polar Regions. They find refuge in holes or cracks and rarely go out from it in the daytime. It is thus at night that the moray eel is active and goes hunting, in search for shellfishes, molluscs, small fishes or cephalopods.

They reproduce between June and September. Their eggs float on the surface of the sea until hatching. They have no pectoral fin but have very developed dorsal and caudal fins. Their style of swimming looks very much like the snake’s one. They can even swim backward to get back to its hole. I saw already some coming out till the end of the tail.
Without scale, the skin is covered with a protector mucus which makes their movements easier. It always swims on the bottom and according to my knowledge it does not try to swim in the blue. If a moray eel gets closer to you and that you found yourself in an "unpleasant" posture, you just need to ascent few centimetres away from the bottom, it will not follow you.

The moray eel has gills at the back of the head, what keeps it most of the time to open the mouth to get oxygen and so gives this kind of "do-not-come-closer" sight.
It is harmless for the diver, at least if we do not too close, because it tends "to taste" what passes within the reach of its mouth. Its teeth are very sharp and its bites painful (as razor blades).

IIt is very frequent to find cleaner shrimps together with moray eels. These will not eat them because they are useful. Indeed the Lady scarlet (Lysmata grabhami) plays an important role when it refers to get rid of parasites. They are real cleaning stations… Although if you have enough patience and leave your fingers near the antennas of a shrimp, it will get use to you and can even come on your hand, just to clean you a little …
Although Lady scarlet are hermaphrodite, it is not exceptional to find them in couple.

We find until 5 kinds of moray eels on the Tenerife dive sites. Here are 3 species which I met under the water so far:

The Brown Moray (Gymnothorax unicolor). Very common in the Canarian Islands, this moray eel is the biggest that we have the chance to see in diving. She can achieve 1m length. With curiosity, it allows you to approach without fear.
Great subject for the photographers, the brown moray likes to take the pause. It would even tend to stick to the lens. Under the water, the eyes seem of a piercing blue. As his congeners, it is possible to find several specimens of moray eels sharing the same hole.

The Fangtooth moray (Enchelycore anatina) is certainly the most impressive of the island’s moray eels. It has a science fiction set of teeth. Its mouth is disproportionate and filled with so sharp teeth that they seem transparent. It is possible to find it in dark environments, as caves or overhangs. She can reach a size of a metre but the biggest Fangtooth moray which I met in diving sized 60cm. It disappears between rocks if we insist too much.



The Black Moray (Muraena augusti) is the most encountered species in Tenerife waters. It sizes usually 40 to 60 cm, although it can reach the metre in length. Very curious, it does not hesitate to get closer to divers. Be careful with this species, it seems nervous and ready to protect wildly its territory. Besides being provided with a row of teeth on the jaws, the black moray has as well a row of teeth located on the palate. A frightening predator.

Outside the competition, the Leopard eel (Myrichthys pardalis) is often mistaken with a moray eel or a snake. It is indeed a fish. It breathes under water thanks to its gills and so do not need to join the surface to breathe, like sea snakes do. It does not belong to the moray family but the eel’s one (Ophichthidae). It is rare to meet them in diving, and even more in the daytime. But she likes going outside its hole late in the afternoon or at night, in search for food. Harmless for the divers, this eel of a maximal size of 70cm is the cherry on the cake during the dives in Tenerife.

The main threat for moray eels is fishing know as the "traditional" fishing. Indeed, the minimal size for the capture is not regulated, what leaves regrettably not enough chance to the juveniles. Although we can see moray eels nearly at every dive, it is rare to find specimens having reached their adult size in Tenerife. The accessory used for its fishing is called "the drum". The image shows a drum abandoned for a long time on the rocky bottom. When the drum is in working order, it lets the fish to get in and does not allow it to get out (as a bow net). Although this practice of fishing is forbidden near the shore, we find these barrels almost everywhere in very shallow waters... Poachers? You said poachers?