Muraena melanotis
Spot the Honeycomb Moray in Cape Verde and the Galapagos. Recognise its bold honeycomb patterning in warm Atlantic and Pacific waters. Year-round sightings.
A medium-sized moray with a rich brown or tan base colour covered in a tightly packed network of dark-edged, pale-centred spots that form a classic honeycomb (reticulate) pattern across the entire body. The pattern runs right up to the head and around the eye, which helps separate it from morays with plain or spotted (not netted) markings. Look for a relatively slender snout compared to the bulkier Green Moray, and no contrasting white or yellow trim on the dorsal fin.
Like most morays, it is typically found tucked inside reef crevices or under rocky overhangs, with just the head and forebody visible as it breathes with a slow, rhythmic open-and-close of the mouth. It is not aggressive towards divers who keep a respectful distance and avoid reaching into cavities. Encounters are usually solitary and stationary; active hunting, when it does emerge, tends to happen at dusk or after dark.
Morays supplement their bite with a second set of jaws, called pharyngeal jaws, that shoot forward from the throat to drag prey inward. This adaptation allows them to subdue fish and crustaceans inside tight reef spaces where other predators could not manoeuvre.
No clear seasonal peak has emerged from the available data, so this species is best treated as a year-round resident. It has been logged in water temperatures between 22 and 27 °C, which aligns with the warm temperate to tropical conditions found at its core sites throughout the year.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Cape Verde accounts for the overwhelming majority of logged sightings, with the waters around São Vicente, Santo Antão, and Sal being the most reliable spots on the planet to find this species. Senegal, particularly around Dakar, is a strong secondary destination. Smaller but notable populations have been recorded in the Galápagos Islands and along the Ecuador mainland coast, with occasional sightings in the Papagayo Gulf of Costa Rica.
Mapping where Honeycomb Moray is logged…
Cape Verde is far and away the best destination, especially around São Vicente, Santo Antão, and Sal. Dakar in Senegal offers strong sightings too. For Pacific encounters, the Galápagos Islands and the Ecuador mainland coast are the go-to spots, with occasional records from Costa Rica's Papagayo Gulf.
There is no well-defined season recorded so far, making it effectively a year-round target at its key sites. Water temperatures at logged sightings range from about 22 to 27 °C, which describes the ambient conditions at places like Cape Verde and the Galápagos across most of the year.
The key feature is its all-over reticulate (net-like) pattern of dark-edged pale cells covering the entire body and head, giving the honeycomb appearance that names it. Unlike the Spotted Moray's discrete round spots or the Chain Moray's linked chain markings, the Honeycomb Moray's pattern is continuous with no plain background showing through.
No, the Honeycomb Moray is not considered dangerous to divers. Like all morays it will bite if cornered or if a hand is pushed into a crevice it is occupying, but unprovoked aggression is not recorded. Give it space, avoid blocking its escape route, and it will typically ignore you.
They are ambush predators that feed primarily on small fish and crustaceans sheltering in reef crevices. Morays are notable for possessing a second set of pharyngeal jaws inside the throat that lunge forward to grab and pull prey inward, allowing them to feed effectively without the suction that most fish rely on.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Garden Eel
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