Golden Dwarf Moray

Gymnothorax melatremus

Also known as Dwarf Moray, Blackspot Moray, Dirty Yellow Moray

SaltwaterFish

Golden Dwarf Moray (Gymnothorax melatremus) — (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–79°F (22–26°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 11.8 in (30 cm)
Minimum tank: 65 gal (246 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Very rare
Reef safe: Reef safe with caution
Origin: Indo-Pacific reefs, from East Africa to the Marquesas and Mangareva islands, north to Hawaii, south to the Austral Islands
Family: Muraenidae

Overview

This eel is semi-aggressive in the sense that it's a committed predator, but it largely ignores tankmates too big to fit in its mouth and spends most of daylight hours out of sight. It's reef safe with caution: it won't touch coral tissue, but any small fish or shrimp that wanders too close becomes a meal, and keepers need to avoid placing it near heavily stinging corals, since a moray can take burns to its skin from repeated contact. Feed small pieces of fish, shrimp, or krill every few days. Despite its small size, treat the lid the same way as for any other moray: fully sealed, with no gap it could squeeze through.

In the wild

Golden dwarf morays range across the Indo-Pacific from East Africa to the Marquesas and Mangareva islands, north to Hawaii and south to the Austral Islands. They hide in small holes and crevices in the reef by day and hunt at night, rarely straying into open water. Because it stays so much smaller than most morays, it can work in a tank of at least 246 litres (65 US gal) with a dense maze of live rock to hide in, though the lid still needs to be completely sealed, since this species is just as determined an escape artist as its larger relatives.

Good to know

Gymnothorax melatremus tops out around 30 cm, making it one of the smallest morays regularly kept in the hobby, a true dwarf species rather than a juvenile of something larger. Its rich yellow to golden-brown body, sometimes finely speckled, is where the common name comes from, and a close look often reveals faint pale blue rings around the eyes. Hawaii has restricted collection of this species, and much of what reaches the trade now comes from the Philippines instead, which keeps supply tight and prices high.

Did you know

A Hawaiian collection ban has cut off the main historical source for this eel, so a genuine golden dwarf moray today is one of the pricier small marine fish in the hobby, and buyers need to watch for juveniles of larger moray species sometimes sold under the same name.