Honeycomb Moray, Gymnothorax saxicola
Honeycomb Moray, Gymnothorax saxicola. Fish caught from coastal waters off Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, August 2013. Length: 54 cm (21 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Dominick Porcelli, Lighthouse Point, Florida.
The Honeycomb Moray, Gymnothorax saxicola, is a member of the Moray and Snake Eel or Muraenidae Family, that is also known as the Black Edge Moray Eel and the Ocellated Moray and in Mexico as morena panal and morena punteada. Globally, there are one hundred sixteen members in the genus Gymnothorax, of which eighteen are found in Mexican waters, nine in the Atlantic and nine in the Pacific Ocean.
The Honeycomb Moray has an elongated muscular body that is compressed at the rear with a large tapering tail that is greater than 50% of the body length. They have a yellowish-brown overall cover with the head and body covered with a network of pale yellowish irregular polygonal spots dorsally that transitions to pale ventrally. The anal fin is a uniform dark color, their caudal fin is spotted or pattered with a dark margin and elongated pale areas, and their dorsal fin has a honeycomb pattern ventrally and the outer half has a strong defined pattern of large elongated black saddles that are outlined in white. There is a conspicuous ring around each eye. Their head is elongated with a moderate blunt snout, large eyes found over the middle of the mouth, and a moderate sized mouth with short jaws with three pores on the upper jaw. The top jaw has one tooth at the front, two teeth on each side and 8 to 10 smaller teeth toward the rear. The upper jaw has large triangular compressed serrated teeth with 9 to 16 teeth on each side the first for or which are larger. Their anal fin originates just behind the anus and their dorsal fin originates on the head well before the gill openings and the anus. Their gill opening is round. Their anal and dorsal fins are covered with skin.
The Honeycomb Moray is a common inhabitant of seagrass beds and in shallow rocky and reef areas found within cracks and crevices in the subtidal zone at depths up to 215 m (700 feet). They reach a maximum length of 62 cm (2 feet 0 inches). They are found as solitary individuals that take shelter during the day backing into crevices within rocky structure with only their head protruding. They are voracious nocturnal ambush predators with poor eyesight that utilize their keen sense of smell to seek out prey. They consume crabs, fish, octopus, and shrimp. Reproduction is oviparous. The Honeycomb Moray is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Honeycomb Moray can be easily confused with the Blackedge Moray, Gymnothorax nigromarginatus (covered with small which spots; anal and dorsal fins body color with black margins), the Blacktail Moray, Gymnothorax kolpos (head and body spotted ventrally; dark caudal fin with 3 or 4 spots), the Lichen Moray, Gymnothorax hubbsi (four pores on upper jaw; dark coloration with a network of white lines), and the Ocellated Moray, Gymnothorax ocellatus (dark brown covered with large white spots; dorsal fin with alternating white and black spots).
The Honeycomb Moray is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.
From a conservation perspective, The Honeycomb Moray is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are caught as a by-catch in some commercially trawl fisheries but not at a significant level. They are seldom encountered by humans and of limited interest to most.