moray eel id

[Jayra]

Hi

I was wondering what you guys thought that this eel is?

Im thinking golden tail moray (Gymnothorax miliaris), though not sure.

Cheers,
Jayra

 

[morayeelsrule]

no i don't think so he is way to dark to be a golden tail. where di you get him

 

[LisaD]

I don't have it with me at work, but if you can find a copy of Reef Fishes volume 1 (by Scott Michael) there is a great chapter on morays with good pics and ID information. I don't think it's a goldentail either, but I think you will find it in the book.

 

[TheSaltwaterGuy]

I don't think its a Goldentail. But whatever it is, you might want to fatten it up a little, it looks a little skinny.

 

[LukFox]

Could you get a profile shot to see the exact shape of the head?

 

[LisaD]

"whatever it is, you might want to fatten it up a little, it looks a little skinny"

my thoughts exactly...

 

[Jayra]

yeah it is skinny... i've only just gotten it. It's been eating like a pig so should fatten up quickly (which leads me to wonder how often the previous owner was actually feeding it... as it has no issues at all with eating frozen food).

side on photo:

 

[RichardS]

I don't know much about moray id's but it might be Gymnothorax eurostus.

Here is a link to the moray id faq on wwm. About 2/3's of the way down they id one and say it has a variable pattern but a tell tale golden nose. In the first pics yours looks like it is kind of goldish on the nose.

 

[Jayra]

That does look like him. Thank you!

Cheers!

 

[philter4]

I think you were right with the goldentail, G. miliaris, the reason I think this is the gold iris around the pupil of the eye, that is the main ID characteristic used, the gold color around the tail is vairale and I've seen them with no gold spots on the tail.

 

[FishyMel]

I'm betting it is eurostus. It looks mare spotty than goldentails and seeing you live in Australia it is more likely a eurostus, native to Australia than an animal native to brazil

 

[LukFox]

It looks to have a slightly hooked jaw which is a characteristic of eurostus, but I don't see any crazy teeth... It could just be the pictures. Can it close its mouth all the way, or are teeth still visible because the mouth is too curved? Probably is eurostus, though. Just want to make sure ;].