The Kidako moray (Gymnothorax kidako) is a species of marine fish in the family Muraenidae. It inhabits coral reefs or lagoons and could be found in tropical and subtropical seas near Taiwan, Japan, and Australia. The species is diurnal, which means it is more active in the daytime than the nighttime. It is also piscivorous: it consumes fish, octopus, and squid. Other than the Kidako moray, there are about 200 species of moray eels in the Muraenidae family. The Kidako moray would not attack humans unless they are provoked. However, due to the menacing looks of the Kidako moray and moray eels in general, they are feared by divers and snorkelers.
The Kidako moray is a medium size fish that can reach a maximum length of 91cm.It has a brownish color with white spots (snowflake-like) on its head, body and fins. It also has a pattern of blotches all over its body. They continue onto its tail. However, some of the patterns disappear as they get closer to the tail. The snout and chin are brown with yellow streaks.
Morays are commonly found in warm-temperature areas like tropical and subtropical seas. Specifically, the Kidako moray is widespread throughout the western to central Ocean Pacific area from Taiwan to Polynesia, including Hawaii, and from south Japan and Korea to New-Caledonia. The Kidako moray usually inhabits coral reefs or lagoons. They hide in rocky bottoms, but they expose their heads occasionally. Some of them also reside in waters up to 400 meters deep, where there is a lower temperature compared to the shallower areas where most of the moray eels inhabit. In addition, morays are usually known to be nocturnal; however, observation has discovered that many of them are also diurnal.
Sometimes, the Kidako moray, which is quite common in some areas in Japan, is used for food. It is harvested in some minor commercial fisheries.
The Kidako moray is piscivorous. It consumes fish and cephalopods such as octopuses and squids to survive. The dietary habits of morays could be divided into two types, piscivory and durophagy. Feeding types differ depending on the sharpness of the teeth as well as the shape or size of the jaws. The species that have long caniniform teeth are more likely to consume octopus, fish, and crustaceans occasionally. On the other hand, species with molariform or short caniniform teeth tend to consume more on crustaceans.
It is rare to see moray eels making unprovoked attacks on humans. However, it is true that the baleful looks of moray eels frighten snorkelers and divers underwater. Humans are afraid of moray eels due to their appearance. When moray eels carry out a normal respiratory movement, focus is drawn to their protruding large jaws and dentition. They activate a protection mechanism by extending their jaws widely to the direction of the threat when encountering an intruder. However, moray eel attacks are rare as it is mainly due to misunderstanding when divers carry out reckless acts of placing their hand into a hole in the reef.
Some species of the moray eels are also able to cause wounds. Three similar cases were found during research of moray eels, and the common facts between those three were that all moray eels had serrated teeth. Researchers speculated that they were venomous, however, no study has been able to prove this.
Few death cases were reported from consuming moray eels. As moray eels are being used as food in some places, fish poisoning has the chance to happen. On Saipan island, 57 people were reportedly poisoned by consuming moray 12 inches thick. This caused 2 deaths and 14 of them became comatose. Later in the investigation, it was found to be a typical ciguatera poisoning. The poison has a highly toxic compound that could show its highest levels in a large moray.
