A large giant moray (Gymnothorax javanicus), peering from its crevice at night on a seamount reef. Most morays are nocturnally active and feed primarily on fishes, though an entire genus (Echidna) includes crustacean-eating eels with powerful jaws but somewhat less formidably-sharp teeth. (Inglis Shoal, Kimbe Bay)
The same eel. This seamount is home to a few of the species, though (despite morays being primarily nocturnally-active animals) I haven't seen them move around there at night yet. (Inglis Shoal, Kimbe Bay)
A giant moray at night on the wreck of a B-25 Mitchell medium bomber. The moray lives inside the aircraft's port wing, its access hole being part of the area from which the stricken bomber's port engine was blasted, that caused the Mitchell's seaward plunge in 1943. This species is the world's largest moray, reaching maximum size of about 2.5 meters (possibly longer). (B-25 wreck, Madang)
A relatively small and dark giant moray checks me out from the safety of its home on a seamount. This particular individual actually looks somewhat more like a mottled moray (G. undulatus) but has the distinctive dark marking of the giant moray at its gill opening. (Inglis Shoal, Kimbe Bay)
A male ribbon eel (Rhinomuraena quaesita) swaying back and forth as it cautiously extends from its hole in the sand surrounding a coral island. Ribbon eels don't seem to move away from their holes, though they do occasionally shift residence. (Restorf Island, Kimbe Bay)
A juvenile ribbon eel, its hole a few meters from the adult male. When grown, it will develop either the bright blue and yellow male coloration or the yellow color of an adult female. (Restorf Island, Kimbe Bay)