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Golden Moray
Species IUCN · Least Concern (LC)

Golden Moray

Gymnothorax miliaris, (Kaup, 1856)

marine

About Golden Moray

Gymnothorax miliaris, the goldentail moray, bastard eel, or conger moray, is a species of marine fish in the family Muraenidae.

Appearance

The goldentail moray is a medium-sized fish that can reach a maximum length of 70 cm, but the ones usually observed are rather average 40 cm in length.

Its serpentine in shape body has a brown light or dark background color dotted with small yellow spots. These later are smaller on the head and larger at the tail.

A color morph of the eel, frequently called the "Banana Eel", is mostly yellow with large spots instead of many small spots.

Habitat

The goldentail moray is widespread throughout the western Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, so it is present from Florida, Bermudas until southeast Brazil.

Its presence was also reported in the islands from the center of the Atlantic Ocean like Saint Helena and Ascension but also close to the African coast in the Cape Verde Islands.

It typically lives on rocky and coral reef slopes between the surface and 35 meters (115.5 feet) in depth with a maximum reported at 60 meters (198 feet).

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Where to see it

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