Snowflake moray

Echidna nebulosa

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–12 m
Water temperature22–30 °C
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Rickard Zerpe, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The snowflake moray, also known as the clouded moray among many vernacular names, is a species of marine eel of the family Muraenidae. It has blunt teeth ideal for its diet of crustaceans, a trait it shares with the zebra moray.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Snowflake moray”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 387 records
February: 337 records
March: 382 records
April: 415 records
May: 354 records
June: 335 records
July: 430 records
August: 331 records
September: 327 records
October: 330 records
November: 327 records
December: 322 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–12 m · Deepest record: 100 m

0–10 m: 103 records
10–20 m: 7 records
20–30 m: 6 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 22–30 °C

20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 11 records
24–26 °C: 18 records
26–28 °C: 36 records
28–30 °C: 63 records

Photos

(c) LASZLO ILYES, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Greg Tasney, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Jonathan Walz, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Snowflake moray, Starry moray, Bosch' Moray Eel, Bosch's moray, Bosch's Reef-eel, Clouded eel, Clouded Moray, Clouded Reef Eel, Floral Moray, Nebulous Moray Eel, Snowflake Eel, snowflake moray, Snowflake moray, Starry Moray, Starry Eel, starry moray, white moray, Zebra Moray

Names in 8 more languages

German: Sternchenmuräne, Sternfleckenmuräne
Spanish: Morena Copo de Nieve, morena estrellada, Morena Estriada
Filipino: Ahas-dagat, Igat, Payangitan
French: Murène à Fleurs, Murène étoilée
Indonesian: Apate
Japanese: Kumo-utsubo, Kumoutsubo, クモウツボ
Thai: ปลาไหลมอเรย์ลายเมฆ
Simplified Chinese: 云纹海鳝, 星帶蝮鯙, 節仔鰻, 糬鰻, 薯鰻, 虎鰻, 蠘仔鰻, 錢鰻, 雲紋蛇鰻, 雲紋蛇鱔(雲紋海鱔)

Other scientific names: Echidna variegata, Gymnothorax boschi, Gymnothorax boschii, Lycodontis boschi, Muraena boschii, Muraena nebulosa, Muraena ophis, Poecilophis nebulosa

Similar species

Fine-speckled Moray
Echidna delicatula
Lipspot moray
Gymnothorax chilospilus
Fimbriated moray
Gymnothorax fimbriatus
Blackspot Moray
Gymnothorax melatremus
Barred-fin Moray
Gymnothorax zonipectis

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,345 open-data records from 1789 to 2024.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist