Home > Fishes > Eels > Morays > Gymnothorax pictus

Updated 4/13/2020

Family Muraenidae

INDO-WEST PACIFIC / HAWAII

TROPICAL EASTERN PACIFIC

Gymnothorax pictus

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 4 feet

 

Kaupulehu, Hawaii, 6 feet

 

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 4 feet

Kapoho tidepool, Hawaii

PEPPERED MORAY      puhi

Rare except around the island of Hawai'i where it inhabits rocky shorelines.  Actively feeds upon crabs, sometimes leaping out of the water to catch them.  Robust with a blunt head and straight jaws, white densely covered with irregular black spots, bright eyes with four black dots on iris.  Attains 55 inches.  East Africa to Okinawa, Hawai'i, and the Galapagos.  Formerly known as Siderea picta.