Distribution Map

The Purple Mouth Moray eel is disributed across the Caribbean sea, among the Bahamas, and along the Bermuda, South Florida, and Brazilian coasts.

It can be found at depths of 5-35 feet below sea level.

Interesting Facts

The Eel has a commensal relationship with small shrimp and wrassers who act like a toothbrush that cleans the animal.

These animals are wrongly considered violent towards humans; they will only attack if they feel threatened as a self defense method.

The Moray eel not only possesses one set of teeth but two with one on its main jaw and the other located on the pharyngeal jaws.

The eel used to be a delicacy to ancient Romans.

Classification

Kingdom -    Animalia
Phylum -       Chordata
Class -             Osteichthyes
Order -           Muraenidae
Genus -         Gymnothorax
Species -       Vicinus

Morphology/Biology

The Purple Mouth Moray grows to lengths of about 1 to 3 feet.

It's dorsal fin extends from behind its head and runs seamlessly down the rest of its body.

Since there eyes can be tiny moray eels rely mostly on there sense of smell over sight.

Purple moray eels can have problems with swallowing prey, which is why they possess a second pair of jaws called pharyngeal jaws.

The eel is covered with a scaleless mucus covered skin that helps the animal fit through crevices and burrow into cracks where it can sleep.

The Purple moray is a carnivore and feeds on several types of fish, cephalapods, molluscs, and crustaceans.

The eel mates oviparously and can produce up to 10,000 plus eggs at once.

Vocabulary

Seamless  - Without interruptions, perfect transition of surfaces, smooth.

Pharyngeal -Related to the region behind the mouth or jaw, the pharynx

Cephalapods - A class of marine mollusks including octopus, cuddlefish, and squid which swim using a siphon which propels water

Oviparous - Producing eggs that develop outside of the body

Commensal -  A type of relationship where one animal helps the other while the other neither harms or helps it

Resources
Wikipedia 
World Travel Maps
Reef Guide
Az Animals
Mysterra