Common Name: Starry Moray

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific Ocean and eastern Central Pacific: north to the Red Sea and Japan, south to Lord Howe Island, southern Baja California and Mexico. Also found in the southeast Atlantic Ocean. In Australia recorded from the central northern West Australian coast, through the Great Barrier Reef south to northern New South Wales, and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents coral and rocky reef flats, often intertidal in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Depth to at least 48 m but usually shallow to 10 m.

Additional Notes: Pale body, including inside mouth, numerous brown bands incorporating yellow speckles. Solitary species usually nocturnal but occasionally seen by reef walkers on rock platforms, where often only the head is seen protruding from hiding place as in lower photograph. Feeds on crustaceans, grows to 100 cm but commonly 50 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.34.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Echidna-nebulosa.html. Accessed 25/05/18.