Snowflake moray
Echidna nebulosa
A cream-white moray dappled with black-and-yellow "snowflakes", whose teeth are not needles but pebble-smooth plates built for cracking crabs.
The snowflake moray (Echidna nebulosa) is one of the prettiest morays of the Red Sea: two rows of dark, star-shaped blotches run along its cream-white body, each sprinkled with tiny yellow dots – like snowflakes melting on its skin. Its dentition sets it apart too: instead of needle-sharp fangs it has blunt, crushing tooth plates, purpose-built for cracking the armour of crabs.
It is a night hunter: by day it usually rests in holes in the rubbly reef base, but after dark it forages in surprisingly shallow water, sometimes barely half a metre deep. Because its whole lifestyle is tuned to hard-shelled prey, it almost never hunts fish – one reason it counts among the calmest, most placid of all morays.
Around Hurghada it is not an everyday sighting, but on rubble-and-boulder ground – around the pinnacles of El Aruk or in the sandy lagoon of Gota Abu Ramada – you have a fair chance of finding one, especially on a night dive. By day, shine your torch into low crevices: the black-on-white pattern gives it away instantly.
Did you know?
Researchers have shown that snowflake morays can feed on land: they slither above the waterline after crabs and use the second, extendable set of jaws in their throat to swallow prey without any water at all.
How to behave around it
A placid species with blunt teeth – but still a moray, so it can deliver a painful bite if you reach into its hole or grab it. Keep your hands close to your body, never feed it, and on night dives avoid shining your light straight into its eyes for long.
Where can you meet it?
Look for it on rubbly ground: the coral towers of El Aruk, the lagoon of Gota Abu Ramada and the shallower cracks of El Fanadir are its best haunts, especially on night dives.
Frequently asked questions
One of the gentlest of all morays: its teeth are blunt and it specialises in crabs, not fish. Bites only happen when it is provoked – keep your hands off and you are perfectly safe.
On a night dive over shallow rubble – that is when it comes out to hunt. By day it rests in crevices at El Aruk and Gota Abu Ramada, where a torch will often reveal it.
Because it doesn't grip slippery fish – it cracks hard-shelled crabs. Blunt, crushing tooth plates work far better for that: a built-in nutcracker.
Best sites for Snowflake moray
El Aruk (Gigi)
A playground of coral towers on white sand: easy navigation, clouds of glassfish and light made for photography.
- Depth
- 5–14m
- Boat
- 35min
- Species
- 5
Gota Abu Ramada
A shallow oval reef with a sandy bottom and schools of butterflyfish – perfect for training, second and night dives.
- Depth
- 4–14m
- Boat
- 55min
- Species
- 5
El Fanadir
A long reef ridge barely half an hour from the marina: a gentle wall, blue-spotted rays and seagrass patches with turtles.
- Depth
- 6–25m
- Boat
- 30min
- Species
- 5
The Red Sea will not wait forever.
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