Species: Enchelycore nigricans, Viper Moray

Enchelycore nigricans (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Viper Moray

Body stout; head and trunk equal to or shorter than tail; head large and muscular; eye large, at about middle of mouth; front nostril a simple tube, rear nostril a large elongate hole well before eye; snout long and narrow; jaws slender, narrow, strongly arched and meeting only at tips, fangs exposed when jaws are closed; teeth conical sharp, top jaw with inner row of widely separated long fangs and an outer row of close-set shorter teeth along length of jaws, between front jaws with 3 rows of ~5 large fangs, inner row depressible, surrounded by an outer row of smaller teeth; lower jaw with inner row of 2-5 large teeth and outer row of small teeth along its length; roof of mouth with a single row of small teeth; lower jaw with inner row only at front; dorsal and anal fins very evident, dorsal origin over or a little behind gill opening.

Large individuals: uniform dark brown with a dark iris; small fish: mid-brown, with irregular polygonal blotches on a pale background, dark between eyes and a dark band across nape, iris pale.

Reaches 100 cm.

Found on reefs.

Depth range: 1-115 m.

Bermuda to Brazil; the tropical E Atlantic.