Photo: Kris Mikael Krister · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Description
- 📏 up to 2.4 m
- 🌊 reef crevices, lagoon and slopes
The giant moray (puhi) is one of the largest moray eels in the world: yellow-brown speckled with dark, with a black patch around the gills. It hunts mostly at night, for fish and octopus, and stays in its hole by day with its mouth half open to breathe, which makes it look menacing when it is simply breathing. It bites only if provoked.
Legend
The puhi should not be confused with Tuna, the freshwater eel of the legend of Hina: in love with her, Tuna was killed by the demigod Maui, and from his buried head grew the first coconut tree. Eels and morays (puhi) hold a special place in the Polynesian imagination.
Source: Legend of Hina and Tuna (Tahitian mythology)
Tahitian names: TAXREF (INPN/MNHN) – Society Islands. French name: Murène javanaise.
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