---
title: "What the sources say about the Green Moray Eel | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "56 claims from the Green Moray Eel profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Green Moray Eel (*Gymnothorax funebris*)

> 56 claims from the Green Moray Eel profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Green Moray Eel](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/green-moray-eel/)

## Gymnothorax funebris (Morena verde). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Gymnothorax_funebris/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| It isn't even really green. Strip away the slime and its scaleless skin is a plain dark grey or brown | This animal has no scales on its dark brown/grey skin, the entirety of which is covered by a yellow mucus. |
| A yellow mucus covers the whole body and protects it from parasites and bacteria | the entirety of which is covered by a yellow mucus. This mucus serves to protect these eels from parasites and bacteria. |
| that yellow, mixed with the dark skin, gives the eel the green hue it is named for | The yellow color of the mucus, when mixed with the brown or grey color of the eel's skin, results in a green hue, for which the animal is named. |
| When a green moray meets a fish too large to swallow whole, it wraps itself around its prey in a knot for leverage, then tears the fish into smaller pieces that are easier to swallow | When an eel encounters a fish too large to swallow whole, it wraps itself around its prey in a characteristic knot, allowing for leverage against the fish. It then tears its prey into smaller pieces, which can be swallowed more easily. (note: ADW's green moray species account) |
| in rock crevices and small caves | They reside in rock crevices and small caves |
| The eel has no scales, and its skin is dark brown or grey | This animal has no scales on its dark brown/grey skin (note: FAQ 2) |
| Over the top sits a yellow mucus, which shields it from parasites and bacteria | the entirety of which is covered by a yellow mucus. This mucus serves to protect these eels from parasites and bacteria. (note: FAQ 2) |
| Blend that yellow with the brown-grey below and you get green, the colour that gave the animal its name | The yellow color of the mucus, when mixed with the brown or grey color of the eel's skin, results in a green hue, for which the animal is named. (note: FAQ 2) |
| Coral reefs, rocky crevices, mangroves, tidal creeks, and seagrass beds of the Western Atlantic and Caribbean | Green morays live in rocky, intertidal areas, coral reefs, mangroves, tidal creeks, harbors, seagrass beds, and other areas over sandy or muddy bottoms. They reside in rock crevices (note: stats.habitat) |
| A yellow mucus coat that protects it from parasites and bacteria | the entirety of which is covered by a yellow mucus. This mucus serves to protect these eels from parasites and bacteria. (note: stats.superpower) |

## Gymnothorax funebris (Green Moray). Florida Museum of Natural History.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/gymnothorax-funebris/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Common in the warm waters of the Caribbean | Common throughout the warm waters of the Bahamas, Caribbean Sea, and Florida Keys |
| the green moray eel (*Gymnothorax funebris*) is one of the largest morays | One of the largest of the morays, the green moray |
| Its maximum reported size is 8 feet (2.5 m) and 65 pounds (29 kg) | Maximum reported size for the species is 8ft (2.5m) and 65 pounds (29 kg). |
| though the average maximum is likely closer to 6 feet and 30 pounds | Average maximum size is likely closer to 6ft (1.8m) and 30 pounds (13.3 kg). |
| Green morays hunt at night, relying largely on their sense of smell to find fish, crabs, shrimps and cephalopods | The green moray is nocturnal predator of fishes, crabs, cephalopods and shrimps that relies largely on its sense of smell to locate prey. |
| such as squid | Squid – food item of the green moray. (note: photo caption on the Florida Museum species page) |
| working in and out of the many tight crevices and holes of coral reefs where prey hide | Green morays are adept at working their way in and out of the many tight crevices and holes of coral reefs where fishes and other organisms hide. |
| Their mouths constantly open and close, pumping water over the gills for breathing | The mouth is constantly opening and closing, mechanically pumping the water required for respiration. This water passes over the small, spherical gills |
| green morays have been seen visiting wrasse cleaning stations | this moray has been observed to visit wrasse-cleaning stations and submit to the activities of certain cleaner shrimps |
| The species ranges through the western Atlantic from New Jersey and Bermuda down to Brazil | The green moray occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey to Bermuda and the northern Gulf of Mexico, south to Brazil |
| eating a large green moray can cause ciguatera poisoning, from a toxin that builds up in large predatory reef species | Ciguatera poisoning in humans as a direct result of the consumption of large green morays is well documented. Ciguatera poisoning is caused by dinoflagellates (microalgae) found on dead corals or macroalgae. By feeding on these corals and macroalgae, herbivorous fishes accumulate a toxin generated by these dinoflagellates. Largely a phenomenon of tropical marine environments, ciguitoxin accumulates still further in the large predatory reef species that feed on herbivorous fishes. |
| Bites are most likely when a diver is feeding one, and divers who probe reef holes and crevices with their hands are also at risk | It is during such contact, particularly in those situations in which a diver is feeding a moray that bites are most likely to occur. Additionally, unwary divers who indiscriminately probe reef holes and crevices with their hands are also at risk to suffer a bite (note: FAQ 4) |
| wearing a thick yellow mucus that turns its dark skin green and protects it from parasites and disease | Although it is actually dark grey-brown, it is covered in a thick yellow mucus, giving it its green coloring and protecting it from parasites and disease. (note: tagline) |
| Fish, crabs, shrimp, squid, and other cephalopods | The green moray is nocturnal predator of fishes, crabs, cephalopods and shrimps (note: stats.diet; squid from the page's caption "Squid – food item of the green moray") |
| a sense of smell it relies on to find prey at night | The green moray is nocturnal predator of fishes, crabs, cephalopods and shrimps that relies largely on its sense of smell to locate prey. (note: stats.superpower) |
| the green moray relies largely on its sense of smell to find fish, crabs, shrimps and squid | The green moray is nocturnal predator of fishes, crabs, cephalopods and shrimps that relies largely on its sense of smell to locate prey. (note: vibe.reason, settled in #836 (throat jaws are Muraena retifera, not this species).) |

## Gymnothorax funebris, Green moray. FishBase.

https://www.fishbase.se/summary/7546

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| from 1 to 50 meters deep but usually 5 to 30 | depth range 1 - 50 m (Ref. 58047 ), usually 5 - 30 m (Ref. 26938 ). |
| Its large size and aggressiveness make its bites particularly dangerous | Due to its large size and aggressiveness, the bites of this moray are particularly dangerous |
| Its large size and aggressiveness make its bites particularly dangerous | Due to its large size and aggressiveness, the bites of this moray are particularly dangerous (note: FAQ 4) |
| 1 to 50 meters deep (usually 5 to 30) | depth range 1 - 50 m (Ref. 58047 ), usually 5 - 30 m (Ref. 26938 ). (note: stats.habitat) |
| dangerLevel: High | Due to its large size and aggressiveness, the bites of this moray are particularly dangerous (note: Settles #836: confirmed. Dangerous bites when provoked (divers feeding it or probing crevices, per the Florida Museum), no recorded death.) |

## Green Moray Eel. Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center.

https://virginiaaquarium.com/green-moray-eel

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Its life expectancy is 10 to 40 years, longer in human care | Life Expectancy Between 10-40 years, longer in human care. (note: species fact box on the Virginia Aquarium's green moray page (Gymnothorax funebris); preferred to ADW, which says the species' lifespan "is not well known" and gives only other Anguilliformes' figures) |
| By day they hide away | they are nocturnal and tend to hide away during the day |
| Cleaner shrimp and gobies eat parasites, bacteria and dead skin off an eel's body and out of its mouth | Cleaner shrimp and gobies also help eat parasites, bacteria, and dead skin off an eel's body and from their mouths in a symbiotic relationship. |
| The reef predator that lies in wait in rock crevices | they hunt by lying in wait in rock crevices and coral reefs (note: tagline) |

## Mehta & Wainwright (2007). Raptorial jaws in the throat help moray eels swallow large prey. Nature.

https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06062

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Most bony fish gulp in a burst of water that carries a meal back to a second set of jaws already waiting in the throat | Most bony fishes rely on suction mechanisms to capture and transport prey. Once captured, prey are carried by water movement inside the oral cavity to a second set of jaws in the throat, the pharyngeal jaws |
| Moray eels are weak at building that kind of suction | Moray eels display much less effective suction-feeding abilities. |
| A study of a different moray, *Muraena retifera*, showed how that species gets around the problem | Here we show that the moray eel (Muraena retifera) overcomes reduced suction capacity (note: the study species is Muraena retifera, not the green moray; the text says so and attributes nothing in the study to G. funebris) |
| its throat jaws launch forward into the mouth, seize the struggling prey, and haul it back down into the esophagus | launching raptorial pharyngeal jaws out of its throat and into its oral cavity, where the jaws grasp the struggling prey animal and transport it back to the throat and into the oesophagus. |
| It was the first described case of a backboned animal using a second set of jaws to both restrain and transport prey | This is the first described case of a vertebrate using a second set of jaws to both restrain and transport prey |
| made possible by elongated muscles working the jaws and reduced gill-arch structures beside them | The extreme mobility of the moray pharyngeal jaws is made possible by elongation of the muscles that control the jaws, coupled with reduction of adjacent gill-arch structures. |
| Most bony fish rely on suction: a rush of water carries a meal back to a second set of jaws in the throat | Most bony fishes rely on suction mechanisms to capture and transport prey. Once captured, prey are carried by water movement inside the oral cavity to a second set of jaws in the throat (note: FAQ 1) |
| Moray eels are far worse at suction feeding | Moray eels display much less effective suction-feeding abilities. (note: FAQ 1) |
| A study of one moray species, Muraena retifera, showed its workaround: the throat jaws shoot forward into the mouth, grab the prey, and pull it back down | we show that the moray eel (Muraena retifera) overcomes reduced suction capacity by launching raptorial pharyngeal jaws out of its throat and into its oral cavity, where the jaws grasp the struggling prey animal and transport it back to the throat and into the oesophagus. (note: FAQ 1; the study species is not the green moray and the answer names it) |
| That was the first described case of a backboned animal using a second set of jaws to both restrain and transport prey | This is the first described case of a vertebrate using a second set of jaws to both restrain and transport prey (note: FAQ 1) |

## Kendall et al. (2021). Green morays (Gymnothorax funebris) have sedentary ways in mangrove bays, but also ontogenetic forays to reef enclaves. Environmental Biology of Fishes.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-021-01137-0

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Some green morays start out in mangrove bays | Several of the larger eels (mean TL = 93 cm ± 5.9 SE) showed clear and permanent emigration tracks out of the mangrove estuary to coral reef habitats offshore. (note: "some": the study documents an ontogenetic shift from mangrove bays to reefs in the tagged eels, not a rule for the species) |
| Researchers who tagged sixteen eels along the mangrove fringe of bays in the US Virgin Islands and tracked them for up to 11 months | Sixteen eels were captured from the mangrove fringe in multiple bays on St. Croix, USVI, implanted with coded acoustic transmitters, and their movements were tracked for up to 11 months |
| found they kept to the same general parts of their bays, and all but one stayed in the same bay | They exhibited high site fidelity in the bays during their residence, using the same general parts of individual bays and did not switch bays except for one individual. (note: "all but one stayed in the same bay" paraphrases "did not switch bays except for one individual") |
| Then several of the larger eels left for good, heading out to coral reef habitats offshore | Several of the larger eels (mean TL = 93 cm ± 5.9 SE) showed clear and permanent emigration tracks out of the mangrove estuary to coral reef habitats offshore. |
| Each final move happened during a single night, at a mean speed of 3.4 km/h | All final emigration events took place nocturnally, happened during a single night, and occurred during months from December to May. Mean emigration speed was 3.4 km/h. |
| It was the first documented habitat shift with growth in any moray eel | This study is the first documentation of an ontogenetic habitat shift in moray eels (note: ontogenetic = with growth and development) |
| Green morays fitted with acoustic tags in mangrove bays on St. Croix kept to the same general parts of their bays while they lived there | They exhibited high site fidelity in the bays during their residence, using the same general parts of individual bays (note: FAQ 3) |
| But several of the larger eels left for good, heading out to coral reef habitats offshore | Several of the larger eels (mean TL = 93 cm ± 5.9 SE) showed clear and permanent emigration tracks out of the mangrove estuary to coral reef habitats offshore. (note: FAQ 3; "single night" is from the same abstract: "happened during a single night") |
| each during a single night | All final emigration events took place nocturnally, happened during a single night (note: FAQ 3) |
| the first documented habitat shift with growth in any moray eel | This study is the first documentation of an ontogenetic habitat shift in moray eels (note: FAQ 3) |

## Smith & McCosker (2015). Gymnothorax funebris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T195731A2409410.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2015-2.rlts.t195731a2409410.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| is listed as Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). Gymnothorax funebris Ranzani, 1839, IUCN taxon 195731. (note: category read through GBIF's copy of the Red List, per docs/fact-check.md) |