Species: Uropterygius macrocephalus, Largehead moray, Largehead snake-moray, Needle-tooth snake-moray

Uropterygius macrocephalus (Bleeker, 1865)

Largehead snake-moray, Largehead moray, Needle-tooth snake-moray

Slender, moderately elongate, compressed at rear; tail slightly longer than head & trunk; snout short, ~ conical; eye moderate, over middle of jaws; front nostril tubular; posterior nostril not tubular, is a hole  with a raised rim above front part of eye; gill opening a small slit at ~ mid side; pores above & below eye, along lower jaw, a single minute branchial pore in front of gill opening; teeth conical, slender, sharp, teeth of jaws biserial, those of roof of mouth uniserial, conical, smooth, sharp;  dorsal & anal fins present as skin covered ridges near tip of tail.

Overall brown, usually with mottled pattern evident; tip of tail white to yellowish.

Size: reaches 47 cm.

Habitat: rocky and coral reefs.

Depth: 1-15 m.

Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) and Japan to the eastern Pacific; the Gulf of California to northern Peru.