Jewel Moray: A Reef Eel Dressed in Spots

The jewel moray is one of our prettiest eels — a slender moray patterned with pale, dark-ringed spots like scattered jewels. You'll usually see just its head poking from a crevice, mouth opening and closing. Here's how to spot one snorkeling near Jacó, plus five fun facts.

Jewel Moray · Muraena lentiginosa

How to spot the jewel moray near Jacó

Scan holes and crevices in the rocky reef for an eel's head resting in the opening, its jaws slowly opening and closing. The jewel moray's pale spots ringed in dark brown are the giveaway. It's shy and stays anchored in its den by day, so look — and never reach into reef holes.

5 fun facts about the jewel moray

• Jewels for scales. Its body is covered in pale spots each ringed with dark brown, like scattered gems — the source of its name.
• That open mouth isn't a threat. It opens and closes its jaws constantly to pump water over its gills to breathe, not to menace you.
• A hidden second jaw. Like other morays, it has a second set of jaws deep in its throat that shoot forward to drag prey down — a real-life surprise mechanism.
• A night hunter. By day it rests in its crevice; after dark it hunts small fish, octopus, and crustaceans by smell.
• Look, never touch. Morays bite only when cornered or when hands are pushed into their dens, so we always keep hands off the reef.

The jewel moray is just one of many characters down there. See the whole cast in our Snorkel Jaco fish directory, or read real guest photos and reviews on the Snorkel Jaco reviews.