Giant Moray Eel

Photo: Josy Lai · CC BY-NC

Giant morays occupy almost every substantial crevice and overhang along San Juan's reef, their spotted brown bodies extending from holes as they cycle water across their gills. These apex predators of the reef use their extraordinary sense of smell to detect prey at night, often swimming in open water after dark in a hunting behavior that startles unprepared divers. Cleaning symbiosis with bluestreak cleaner wrasse is frequently observed at several established cleaning stations on the reef.