In
my mind, the dragon moray (Enchelycore pardalis) is the
most beautiful and fearsome of all the muraenids. With its crooked
jaws, its always visible, needle-sharp teeth, the "horn" over
each eye, and the tubular nostrils, it is truly as frightening
to look at as its mythical namesake! It is also one of the most
colorful of all the morays. The body and head can be chocolate
to light brown, with varying degrees of orange. (The truly amazing
individuals have bright orange on the anterior portion of the
body and head.) There are white spots and bands on the body,
head and jaws. The white mouth is tattooed with a series of
dark lines.
It
has been suggested that those dragon morays from Japan are the
most beautiful of all. But the coloration of individuals varies
greatly within populations. Some have suggested that these chromatic
differences may represent sexual dichromatism, but this has
never been proven by eternal examination or observation of spawning
behavior. Therefore, at this time it is just a hypothesis.
Observing
Dragons in the Field
On
a trip to Osezaki, Japan in 2003, I observed one of these morays
among the small boulders that comprised a rocky jetty. I was
upset because I was out of film and worried that I may not see
another one during my three week stay in Japan. Boy was my worrying
unnecessary! I would end up seeing over 50 dragon morays at
the two areas we visited. On one dive, where I actually went
looking for these morays, I saw nine individuals in about 50
minutes! I found that at Osezaki, it is most common on the outer
bay side of the Osezaki Peninsula. I typically found it in interstices
between the large coralline-encrusted boulders that made up
a boulder tract that runs parallel to the coastline. (I rarely
saw them among the rocks that were covered with macroalgae.)
Individuals were also seen partially hidden between smaller
rocks, in crevices under limestone overhangs, and in large fissures
in large rocky pinnacles and outcroppings. I observed it at
depths of 1.5 to 27 m (5 to 88 ft.).
The
dragon moray tends to be quite shy. Individuals are usually
seen with only their heads protruding from a crevice (occasionally
the front portion of the body may also be in view) and many
will quickly pull into their refuge if closely approached. Although
I never observed more than one dragon moray in the same crevice,
they were often not far from one another. At one site, I saw
five individuals in an area of about 3 x 9.2 m (20 x 30 ft).
Occasionally, they were also observed in close proximity to
the Kidako moray (Gymnothorax kidako). On several occasions
I saw individuals being serviced by cleaner wrasses and banded
coral shrimp (Stenopus hispidus). On two occasions I
saw the banded coral shrimp cleaning the jaws and mouth of a
dragon moray.
Keeping
Dragons
This
moray's contrasting combination of a menacing appearance and
colorful attire makes it a great display animal for the larger
home aquarium. But unfortunately, the dragon moray is not readily
available in the aquarium trade and when it is available it
commands big dollars. It is a fish-eater that will ingest anything
that can fit into its expandable jaws. Although an uncommon
event, larger specimens have even been known to bite and mutilate
fish that are to large to swallow whole.
The
dragon moray is very cryptic, especially smaller specimens,
and must be provided with suitable shelter sites to facilitate
acclimation. With time, it will become less of a recluse, spending
more of the daylight hours with at least its head protruding
from a hole or crevice. Some specimens will even begin to lay
out in full view and become quite tame. The dragon moray will
eat live feeder fish in captivity, although it may take several
weeks, or even months, before some larger specimens commence
feeding.
With
time most dragon morays can, and should, be switched to long
strips of fish flesh (e.g., smelt, orange roughly, haddock)
and squid. Most morays can be enticed to eat non-living food
by impaling it on the end of a feeding stick (I use a piece
of rigid airline tubing with a sharpened end) and moving it
in front of their head. It is also important not to feed your
moray too frequently, because over feeding can lead to fatty
infiltration of the liver, which impairs the functioning of
this organ. It is not uncommon to see animals that have excessive
fat deposits on the head and body in public aquariums, probably
as a result of being overfed. Field studies suggest that morays
eat infrequently, therefore in order to prevent this condition
I would recommend feeding your eel to satiation twice a week.
Also an overfed moray may regurgitate its partially digested
meal, which can make a mess of your tank. Morays usually ingest
one larger meal every three or four days.
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It
is not uncommon for morays to refuse to eat on occasion. This
may occur if the eel is being overfed, if the water quality
in the tank has deteriorated, the water temperature drops significantly,
or sometimes occurs for no reason at all. The problem can often
be rectified by performing a partial water change, offering
your eel different types of food and by being patient. Continue
to offer the eel food, even if he has shown no interest during
recent attempts. Just keep trying. Keep trying different types
of food to see if one certain food triggers a feeding response.
I have found that a fasting moray will often have a hard time
resisting cephalopods (e.g., squid, octopus) if they have been
on a fish-only diet. Other foods I have used to initiate a feeding
response in a finicky moray include smelt, orange roughly, and
haddock.
Because
their large teeth can inflict serious injury to conspecifics,
and fighting is likely to result, I would not risk placing two
specimens in the same tank, unless they are a mated pair and
you have an extra-large aquarium (e.g., 180 or more). You can
keep juveniles of this species with other morays, but adults
may attack other eels housed with them, especially if other
morays are introduced after the dragon moray. If you are going
to keep other eels with an adult dragon moray, they should be
placed in an X-large tank with numerous hiding places. The dragon
moray should be introduced to the tank last, and all the eels
should be of similar size or the dragon moray should be slightly
smaller.
The
threat display of the dragon moray is spectacular. It will open
its jaws as wide as possible, laterally flatten the gill region,
cock its head to one side and erect its dorsal fin. I have seen
other morays that were nearly as long as the dragon moray and
well established in the tank before the dragon moray was added,
flee to the upper corner of the tank when threatened by one
of these menacing-looking beasts.
