A moray eel is a sea animal with a long, snake-like body and no scales. Moray eels live in tropical seas, on coral reefs and rocky reefs, and as of November 2026, scientists count about 200 species of moray eel. The green moray lives in the western Atlantic Ocean, from New Jersey and Bermuda to the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil. The California moray lives along the Pacific coast, from Point Conception, California, south to Magdalena Bay, Baja California.

Morays come in many sizes, and as of November 2026, these sizes are reported. The giant moray is reported to reach about 3 meters long, and it can weigh up to 30 kilograms. The green moray can reach 2.5 meters and can weigh up to 29 kilograms, the largest sizes reported for that species. The California moray can grow to about 5 feet, or 1.5 meters. Across all morays, lengths range from about 20 centimeters, for the redface eel, to 3.75 meters, for the longtail moray.

A moray often hides in a crack in the rocks with only its head showing. It can swim backward almost as well as forward, and this helps it back into a crevice. Fish swim like eels by bending the whole body into waves from side to side, which is called anguilliform swimming. A moray has no paired fins, which means it has no pectoral fins and no pelvic fins.

Most moray eels hunt at night. Smell is a moray's strongest sense, and it uses smell to find food. A moray has tube-shaped nostrils on its snout, and it uses them to smell. The giant moray has very poor eyesight, and it relies on its sense of smell to find food.

Morays eat fish, octopuses and crustaceans. Giant morays eat reef fish, and the California moray eats small reef fish, octopuses, shrimps and crabs. Many moray eels have sharp teeth, but moray teeth differ. Some morays have sharp, fang-like teeth, and others have low, blunt teeth for crushing.

Many fish catch prey by pulling it in with strong suction, but a moray cannot do this. Instead, a moray has a second set of jaws in its throat. High-speed video and X-rays showed that these throat jaws lunge forward into its mouth and pull prey into the throat. A moray can also tie its body into a knot to get leverage when it eats.

A green moray lives alone, but it does not go without help. It visits wrasse cleaning stations and lets cleaner shrimps clean it. Red rock shrimp clean a California moray's skin of dead skin and parasites. In return, the shrimp are protected from predators by living in the moray's crevice.

A moray's life begins with an egg, because morays lay eggs, and the eggs are fertilized outside the body. A baby moray is a see-through, leaf-shaped larva called a leptocephalus. A young moray first drifts in open water as a larva before it settles near the bottom.

In short, a moray is a long, snake-like eel with no scales. As of November 2026, scientists count about 200 species of moray eel in tropical seas. A moray often hides in a crack in the rocks, and most moray eels hunt at night. Smell is a moray's strongest sense, and a moray eats fish, octopuses and crustaceans.

Words to know

• crevice: narrow crack
• nostrils: nose openings
• suction: pulling force
• larva: young form
• anguilliform: eel-like swimming