Giant moray

Gymnothorax javanicus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth2–25 m
Water temperature23–30 °C
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Derek Keats, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The giant moray is a species of moray eel and a species of marine fish in the family Muraenidae. In terms of body mass, it is the largest moray eel; however, the slender giant moray is the largest in terms of body length.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Giant 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: 382 records
February: 374 records
March: 441 records
April: 443 records
May: 439 records
June: 372 records
July: 448 records
August: 373 records
September: 437 records
October: 504 records
November: 486 records
December: 459 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–25 m · Deepest record: 139 m

0–10 m: 131 records
10–20 m: 137 records
20–30 m: 49 records
30–40 m: 5 records
40–50 m: 2 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 12 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C

22–24 °C: 2 records
24–26 °C: 20 records
26–28 °C: 33 records
28–30 °C: 39 records

Photos

(c) Silke Baron, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Ewout Knoester · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Gergely Nigg, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Sockrosma, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Bernard DUPONT, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Giant moray, Blackpearl Moray, giant moray, Giant Moray, Giant Moray Eel, Java Moray Eel, Tropical Moray Eel

Names in 6 more languages

German: Riesenmuräne
Spanish: Morena gigante
French: Murène De Java, Murène géante, Murène javanaise
Japanese: Dokuutsubo, ドクウツボ
Thai: ปลาหลดหินยักษ์, ปลาไหลมอเรย์ยักษ์
Simplified Chinese: 爪哇裸胸鯙, 爪哇裸胸鱔, 爪哇裸胸鳝, 糬鰻, 薯鰻, 虎鰻, 錢鰻

Other scientific names: Gymnothorax javonica, Lycodontis javanicus, Muraena javanica

Similar species

Vagrant moray
Gymnothorax buroensis
Lipspot moray
Gymnothorax chilospilus
Abbott's Moray
Gymnothorax eurostus
Laced moray
Gymnothorax favagineus
Fimbriated moray
Gymnothorax fimbriatus
Yellow-edged moray
Gymnothorax flavimarginatus

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).
1,970 open-data records from 1859 to 2023.
Species data updated October 30, 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