Echidna

Echidna nebulosa

(Ahl, 1789)

Snowflake Moray, Clouded Moray, Starry Moray

Likely Reef Tank Suitable

Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable

Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Red Sea and East Africa to the Society Islands to Southern Japan and the Hawaiian Islands, south to Lord Howe Island.

Size: 30 inches (75 cm)

Natural Environment: Inhabits shallow lagoons, seaward reefs, and intertidal flats at depths between 3 to about 150 feet (1 – 45 m) and stays under rocks and/or in caves during daytime and hunts prey during evening hours when it feeds mainly on crustaceans.

General Husbandry: One of the more commonly seen in the trade moray eels, having a short blunt snout, yellow eyes, with its body coloration white with two horizontal rows of black blotches.

Best maintained in a dimly lit aquarium having live rock, hiding places/caves, and semi-aggressive tankmates that are too large to swallow, e.g., large wrasses, large angelfishes and surgeonfishes, groupers, and triggerfishes.

As to diet, fresh fish and/or crustacean flesh impaled on a long feeding stick and waved near its head, which usually sticks out of a hiding area, will entice it to grab the food and should be offered twice weekly.

Taxonomy:

Order: Anguilliformes

Suborder: Muraenoidei

Family: Muraenidae

Subfamily: Muraeninae

Genus: Echidna

FYI: Avoid hand feeding!

Aquarium must be covered, as they can get out of the aquarium through very small openings. Its an escape artist.

Rockwork in the aquarium should be quite stable, as they can undermine rock structures and cause their collapse.

Length can exceed that mentioned above.

It is thought they may be sexed by the shape of their teeth, with the male having sharper and serrated teeth and the female having more conical shaped teeth.

More than one can be maintained in the same aquarium.

Experience Level: Intermediate

Temperament: Semi-aggressive

Diet: Carnivore

Coral Safe: Yes

Fish Safe: With caution

Invertebrate Safe: With caution

Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+

Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium

Tankmates: Semi-aggressive

Minimum Tank Size: 100 gallons

Temperature Range: 72 - 80°F (22 – 27°C)