All fish / Muraenidae

Chain Moray Eel

Echidna catenata

Also known as chain moray, chain link moray, chainlink eel, chain eel, catenated moray, chain moray eel, チェーンモレイ, 链纹蛇鳝, 链海鳝

A dark brown to black moray marked with a bold chain-like network of bright yellow lines and spots. It stays fairly small for a moray, and its blunt, crushing teeth make it one of the safer morays to keep with fish, so many keepers choose it for big rock-filled tanks.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

50 cm

Temperature

23 to 28 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

300 litres

Keep as

Keep singly

Diet

Carnivore: crabs, crayfish, shrimp, clams and other shelled crustaceans and molluscs

Swims

Bottom of the tank

Lifespan

10 to 20 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Western Atlantic: Bermuda, Florida, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to Brazil; also Ascension and St Helena

Breeding

In the wild it scatters eggs in open water, and the larvae drift as plankton for a long time. It has not been bred in home aquariums.

Good to know

Morays are skilled escape artists, so use a lid that fits tightly with no gaps. It will eat crabs, shrimps and snails, so keep it out of tanks with invertebrates you value, and use tongs when feeding to avoid getting bitten.