Identification and compatibility: Barred Moray or Zebra Eel

Moved the aquarium today. Found an eel (never bought it so it must have
been a stowaway). The pictures I've found of the Barred Moray and the Zebra
are very similar and that's what it looked like. How can I tell the
difference? Are either or both compatible with a reef?

They don't hurt the corals, but they do like to eat the
fish and critters that one normally keeps in the reef tank.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



hawgdawg wrote on 11/17/2006 9:38 PM:
Moved the aquarium today. Found an eel (never bought it so it must have
been a stowaway). The pictures I've found of the Barred Moray and the Zebra
are very similar and that's what it looked like. How can I tell the
difference? Are either or both compatible with a reef?

hawgdawg wrote:
Moved the aquarium today. Found an eel (never bought it so it must have
been a stowaway). The pictures I've found of the Barred Moray and the Zebra
are very similar and that's what it looked like. How can I tell the
difference? Are either or both compatible with a reef?

Neat stowaway - F&S wants over $100 for a zebra. Several vendors say they max
out at 18", but the Monterey Bay Aquarium site says 5', and several other sites
state that they get very big. All sites say they eat live food (like small
fish). F&S says it's reef compatible "with caution" and sal****erfish.com uses
similar language.

The barred moray gets to 24" long and has similar eating habits. Basically,
don't try to keep small fish, shrimp, or crabs with either. I've found less info
on the web about this guy.

The barred moray has relatively wide bands. The bands don't have dark edges. The
zebra eel has narrower bands which have dark brown edges. Zebra eels have
spotted noses in all the photos I've seen. A Google search turned up many photos
of the two eels, and there's a tremendous variation in the patterns of
individual barred morays. There seems to be much less variation between
individual zebra morays.

George Patterson
Those who do not study History are doomed to repeat it. Those who DO
study History are doomed to watch every one else repeat it.

hawgdawg wrote:
The pictures I've found of the Barred Moray and the Zebra
are very similar and that's what it looked like. How can I tell the
difference? Are either or both compatible with a reef?

Hi HD,

Try Googling on their scientific names as shown below. I've included
links to FishBase pages on each.

Barred Moray (Echidna polyzona)
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Spec...ry.php?id=5389

Zebra Moray (Gymnomuraena zebra)
http://64.95.130.5/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=7880

You may have a problem with identification if what you have is a
juvenile. These species both appear to change markings pretty
dramatically as they mature and it's quite possible that they look very
similar when young (under a foot or so in length).

It looks like both species have similar diets (crab, shrimp, mollusks,
& urchins) and the Zebra is described by some as a safe species (of
course, YMMV).


FishBasically yours,

Alex