The Green Moray Eel (Gymnothorax funebris) is a mid-sized Atlantic bony fish. It is an adoptable animal in Zoo Tycoon.
Description[]
The Green Moray Eel belongs to a family of around 200 species of morays. It can grow up to 2.5m (8.2ft) and is named after its dark green coloration, which is formed by a mucus the eel secretes as protection from disease and parasites. Like most moray eels, it is a nocturnal ambush hunter, hiding in rocky crevices with only its head emerging from the opening. It hunts fish, including other eels, squid and crustaceans, grabbing them as they pass by the crevice. Moray eels possess "pharyngeal jaws" in their throat, which they can extend forward and grab hold of prey to swallow; they are the only known animals known to use their pharyngeal jaws in this way.
The green moray eel is typically found on coral reefs, rocky shorelines and in mangroves in water less than 100 feet deep. It lives in waters along the western Atlantic from New Jersey, through the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and as far south as Brazil. Green morays are also found in the waters around the remote Ascension Island in the Eastern Atlantic.
Zoo Tycoon[]
The Green Moray Eel is an adoptable animal in Zoo Tycoon and was added as part of the Marine Mania expansion pack. In Freeform mode, it is one of six marine animals available from the start.
Like all Marine Mania animals, the green moray eel is an Aquatic animal. It likes a deep tank that is at least 8 units deep and requires at least four individuals to be happy. It does not require a shelter but does require the Sunken Log as a toy, which is its favorite object. The green moray eel likes a variety of foliage, including Sargassum, Sand Dollar, Sea Cucumber, and Red Gorgonian, as well as Divercate Tree Coral, Feather Duster Worm, Fire Coral, Stovepipe Sponge, and Sea Grass to a lesser extent. The green moray eel can maximise its habitat suitability with any combination of these plants, as long as the player uses at least a few Small Ocean Floor Rock clusters for its rock requirement and gives the animal enough toys. The Sunken Log also contributes significantly to the green moray eel's habitat suitability.
The green moray eel breeds frequently and gives birth to 4 elvers (young eels) at a time, though also has a low animal density, which means that a lot of eels can live comfortably in a single tank as long as their needs are met.
Unusually, the green moray eel has a hard time keeping its hunger need full, despite being able to completely fill its hunger need when feeding.
 Animal Facts
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There are over one hundred species of bottom-dwelling moray eels (Muraenidae). The largest of these is Thyrsoidea macrurus, the giant moray eel. Like other eels, moray eels belong to the class of bony fish. The moray eel has no scales. Instead, a slippery mucous covers its smooth skin for protection. The coloration of the skin also provides this bottom dwelling animal with camouflage. Although some moray eels blend into the rocky bottom, others are brightly colored. They have small fins used for thrust when swimming or slithering along the ocean floor. Moray eels have a single pair of gill slits. Unlike the gills of other fish, the slits of moray eels are circular. By keeping its mouth open, the moray eel can increase circulation through its gills to provide oxygen even when still. Moray eels have a pair of strong jaws with long pointed teeth. The shape and angle of these teeth prevent prey from escaping once trapped in the moray eel’s mouth. The giant morays can grow to be ten feet long. Most of the other morays are smaller than that, but can still average two to three feet in length. The moray eel generally hunts at night and hides during the day. Although they are rumored to attack humans, most moray eels are shy of divers and only attack if provoked. Instead, these fish prefer to feed on fish and mollusks. Moray eels usually have a den or rocky hole in which to conceal themselves while hunting. Often only their heads protrude from these holes while they lie in wait for prey. Since most moray eels have poor eyesight, they rely heavily on their sense of smell to hunt. Many of the larger moray eels will prey upon octopi much larger then their own size. Since both eels and octopi like to live in small rocky holes, these two species are often in conflict. Morays often solve this conflict by eating the offending octopus, one tentacle at a time. moray eels are found in the tropical waters of the Indian, Pacific, and western Atlantic Oceans. They prefer coral reefs or rocky-bottomed shallow waters. Like all fish, moray eels lay eggs to produce offspring. These eggs hatch into a tiny, leaf shaped planktonic larva called a leptocephalus. This three-inch juvenile eel rides the currents for at least eight months. Many leptocephalus are consumed by the filter feeders of the tropical ocean. The survivors mature into adult eels and settle to the ocean floor or reef surface to search for a lair. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The green moray eel is one of only a select few animals whose Animal Facts doesn't mention the animal's (sub)species at all.
- Appearance-wise, the green moray eel more closely resembles the Chain Moray Eel than an actual green moray.