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Zebra Moray Eel

Family: MuraenidaePicture of a Zebra Moray EelGymnomuraena zebraPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough
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Is this eel the same as the snowflake moray eel? And by any chance is the snowflake moray eel and the freshwater snowflake moray eel the same eel?  Anonymous

   A very popular and beautiful eel. The Zebra Moray Eel are very suitable to the aquarium, with specimens known to have lived in captivity for more than 20 years!

  Though rather reclusive, the reef safe Zebra Moray Eel is very peaceful and slow moving. It needs lots of rock in order to conceal its entire body, but once comfortable in its environment, it will venture out for food. Though very docile and compatible with fish, even other species of eel, its natural diet are crustaceans and it will readily snack on ornamentals. They are generally a chocolate-black, but some specimens can be more golden brown than the eel pictured here.

For more Information on keeping marine fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Marine Aquarium


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Geographic Distribution
Gymnomuraena zebra
Data provided by FishBase.org
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Class: Actinopterygii
  • Order: Anguilliformes
  • Family: Muraenidae

Habitat: Natural geographic location:    Zebra Moray Eels are found in the Indo-Pacific and the tropical eastern Pacific; they cover a wide range from the Red Sea and east coast of Africa across the Indian Ocean to the Philippines and north to the Hawaiian Islands, also found in the Gulf of California off Panama, Mexico and the Galapagos Islands. They inhabit seaward reefs at depths of 20 feet to 145 feet (6 - 44 meters), dwelling close to the bottom among corals and rubble.

Status:    These fish are not listed on the IUCN Red List.

Description:    True to its name, the beautiful Zebra Moray Eel is easily recognized by its zebra striping, narrow white bands on a chocolate or golden brown background. It is also readily distinguished from other eels by a blunt rounded snout.

Length/Diameter of fish:    Adults can grow to 144 cm (57 inches), but usually only attain about 90cm (36 inches) in captivity.

Maintenance difficulty:    The Zebra Moray Eel is easy to keep once they are established in the aquarium.

Foods:    The Zebra Moray Eels are carnivores. Having blunt teeth suitable for grinding, they primarily eat crustaceans in their natural habitat, such things as crabs, snails, urchins, and mollusks. For this eel a good choice is crab meat, blue crabs with their carapace cracked works well. Also fiddler crabs are readily available. They will also eat other meaty foods such as shrimp, clams, squid, scallops and fish flesh.
   Though a very docile fish they can become a bit more aggressive when feeding and they do have a very strong bite, so it is best to feed with a feeding stick. Juveniles will eat more readily than adults and will take a wider variety of foods, however most specimens that are available are already over 17 inches (43.2 cm). Use a feeding stick if necessary at first to place the food right in front of its mouth. You can gently tap the eel's snout with the food laden stick to encourage it to eat. Don't worry if it doesn't eat for a while at first, they can go for several weeks without food (and often do).

Maintenance:    These fish are generally very easy to care for and are hardy. Provide basic marine aquarium care with a 20% water change monthly or 10% twice a month.
   For more information see, Marine Aquarium Basics: Maintenance

Aquarium Parameters:
   A reclusive fish, it needs to have plenty of rock with holes for hiding its entire body in to feel comfortable.
Minimum Tank Length/Size:
   A minimum 75 gallon (284 liters) aquarium for an adult Zebra Moray Eel.
Light: Recommended light levels
   No special requirements.
Temperature:
   No special requirements. Normal temperatures for marine fish is between 74° and 79° Fahrenheit.
Water Movement: Weak, Moderate, Strong
   No special requirements.
Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom
   Will generally stay in the bottom of the aquarium. Will find a cave or crawl under a rock and spend most of their time there with only their heads sticking out.

Social Behaviors:    Sociable and peaceful, can be considered a community fish as long as the tank mates are not ornamental crustaceans, they will readily snack on those. Because of their need to retreat, they are best kept in a reef aquarium, or an aquarium with lots of rock.

Sex: Sexual differences:    Unknown.

Breeding/Reproduction:     Probably not possible in the aquarium. See Breeding Marine Fish page for a description of how they reproduce in the wild.

   Several freshwater species of eels are known to lay their eggs in the ocean and die afterwards!

Availability:    The Zebra Moray Eel is available from time to time. Usually it can be acquired from your pet store or found on the internet.

Author: David Brough, CFS.
Additional Information: Clarice Brough, CFS.


Gymnomuraena Zebra Zebra Moray Eel Large Gymnomuraena Zebra Zebra Moray Eel Large
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Price: $219.99
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Lastest Comments on Zebra Moray Eel

Anonymous - 2012-01-18
Is this eel the same as the snowflake moray eel? And by any chance is the snowflake moray eel and the freshwater snowflake moray eel the same eel?

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  • Charlie Roche - 2012-01-18
    Nope they look completely different. The Morey has stripes and the snow flake looks like it has more spots. Here is a bunch of pictures showing the snowfalke vs the morey
    Snowflake vs Morey and hope this helps.
Reply
Rob - 2008-06-09
I got one of these guys a week ago. I can't get him to eat. Tried raw shrimp, silversides, ghost shrimp, and rosy reds. I'm gonna try to find some little blue crabs. Other than the feeding problems, make sure you have a nice weight on the tank lid. Mine got out the FIRST night!

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  • mayday - 2010-02-27
    If he is older- he may already be set on a "favorite" food, mine was, he tolerated fresh and frozen shrimp / scallops from the grocery store for the first month (probably the novelty of it). I was mixing it up; dried krill then fresh groc store shrimp then froz groc store shrimp. After about 2mos he went on a little hunger strike. I was out of the dried tetra jumbo krill and he wouldnt eat ANYTHING for almost 3 weeks. I bought more dried krill and he's been fine ever since. Our last "hiber-break" (he hides and won't eat like he's hibernating lol) was about 4mos ago. He does it about every 6mos. Levi is 2' 6"- fat- wrinkly :) and seems happy. His eyes seem a little milky so he is probably a lot older than the 4 years I know of. I read they are carrion type eaters in the wild but I have never gotten mine to eat fish ( frozen silversides) or frozen crab.
  • Ashton - 2011-11-09
    I have a 3 feet long zebra moray eel I have had him for about 4 years he loves krill and gold fish, I got him for an amazing deal of $40 on craigslist he is in a 110g tank now when I first got him he did not eat for like 3 months, would not eat at all till one day I was trying to feed my snowflake eel and he started to eat so don't freak if he is not eating the next few weeks after just getting him.
Reply
Callum - 2010-02-16
I'm getting a zebra eel tomorrow, 10 inch for

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  • Alexis - 2010-10-28
    i got a zebra eel about 24 inches, green moray eel about 30 inches, snowflake about 2 ft and 2 other ones about 16 inches for free.. i thanked them so much
  • TT - 2011-09-05
    HI I had mine for a long long time. I feed him every second day with mussels that I get from the local shop raw nothing added . He eats like a piggy up to 8 every second day and is healty as you can't believe. Try that perhaps that would help. I take the frozen mussels put into some water the morning with some garlic then at night feed him. They normaly don't eat during the day. I have noticed they look for food at night so just before you put the light off for sleeping time feed him.
Reply
David - 2011-08-16
I have had my zebra eel for around 15 yrs now, he's about 3 feet long or close to it. I have fed him by hand many times with no problems. I started with a used 75 gal tank my eel, 2 clown fish, 1 goby and 3 different types of live coral along with a lot of live rock. My eel was about 2 to 3 inches long when I bought him. It took a while but I managed to get him to eat raw shrimp. About 7 years ago when I was not home the side of my used tank split out, I lost about 1/3 of the tank water and of course the sump stopped working. The only things that suvived were the eel and the clown fish. As fast as I could I set up a 40 gal tank I had in the basment and transfered everything into it, and that's where he still lives today. For the past month my eel has not eaten and I'm not sure what is happening to him, he is still breathing and moving around inside his cave but he dose not come out and move around his tank like he use to.

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  • Charlie Roche - 2011-08-17
    I think he might just be getting on in years. Some folks say lifespan about 4 years but most say around 10. I say people live to be over 100 - so no reason to always go with life spans but maybe just slowing down a little. So, he has a good enviorment and obviously great care - Hope all is OK
Reply
mayday - 2010-02-27
I bought my zebra moray for $100 from the lfs. He was nearly 2' long then and had been in a 75g setup fowlr-- my lfs owner assured me he would be fine in my 55g reef setup--(i know b.s.) well by a miracle "Levi" is still with me after 2years- he scares the poop outta me about 1x every six months by refusing to eat for up to 2.5 weeks. He has decided he only likes tetra's jumbo krill, and refused to eat until i bought it- not even fresh frozen shrimp or scallops would entice him. As he ages i notice some lightning in his brown color and more wrinkles :). Its sad that the old owner got "tired of him" (yes, i went and hunted that guy down for info) he was at least 2yrs old then. He is a GREAT add to my reef tank (by the grace of God lol) and has only been suspected in one "disappearance" of my sally light foot crab (only her legs were left poor girl). He and my coral banded shrimp even seem to tolerate one another well, but the shrimp pushes him around believe it or not, and appears to pick things off him (perhaps parasites?). I have not had ANY ich or illnesses of any kind for more than a year (thank God).. so all seems to be well even though its only a 55g. I probably have 200# of live rock and a deep sand bed at minimum 4" that i DO NOT DISTURB. I use a baby bottle brush to remove detrus. I have a REMORA PRO protien skimmer, a phosphate reactor, and an ODYSSEA CFS 4 canister filter. To keep my monster in the tank i use the plastic grid from office lights (comes in sheets). My tank is now 4yrs old going on 5yrs. I have a yellow tang, a royal gramma basslet, a mandarin goby, tomato clown, yellow tail blue damsel, 2 pajama cardinals, a six line wrasse, and a lawn mower blenny, I am not a master aquarist, or even an intermediate one, I get lucky!!! and believe there is no real substitute for an aged aquarium you have to be vigilant until the ecosystem is set :(-- dont give up !! it really will get lots better, and its SO WORTH IT-- :)

Reply
Anonymous - 2009-06-29
I have a zebra moray and find him to be extremely easy to feed, in fact hand feed.
He loves to eat prawns and will come completely out off his hiddy hole to get them.

Reply

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