Kidako Moray

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 found throughout the western Pacific area from Taiwan to Japan. 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.

Kidako moray is eaten in Japan, where it is called utsubo, although this name is also used for other moray eels. 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.