---
title: Yellowmouth Moray (Gymnothorax nudivomer)
scientific_name: Gymnothorax nudivomer
common_name: Yellowmouth Moray
taxon: Moray eel
conservation_status: LC - Least Concern
published: 2024-01-03T05:00:34.049Z
updated: 2026-08-14T21:41:07.206Z
tags: Yellowmouth Moray, Gymnothorax nudivomer, Moray eel, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/moray-eel/yellowmouth-moray
---

# Yellowmouth Moray (*Gymnothorax nudivomer*)

## Quick facts

- **Group:** Moray eel (*Muraenidae*)
- **Size:** up to 180 cm
- **Depth:** 2-271 m
- **Diet:** Carnivore
- **Activity:** Nocturnal
- **Rarity:** Uncommon
- **Habitat:** Reef slopes and drop-offs, in caves and ledges
- **Reproduction:** Broadcast spawner, Gonochoric
- **Hazard:** Dangerous, Poisonous
- **Conservation status:** LC - Least Concern

## How to recognise it

- dark brown body covered in small pale yellow spots
- inside of the mouth bright yellow, obvious every time it breathes
- large and heavy-bodied, usually deeper than 15 m
- length up to 180 cm

A big spotted moray with a bright yellow mouth, and the yellow is visible constantly - morays have to open and close their jaws to pump water over the gills, so the color flashes with every breath.

The interesting part is on the outside. The skin mucus of this species is toxic: it carries a hemolytic compound strong enough to be studied as a defense against predators and parasites, and handling one leaves an irritation that is not just slime. It is one of the few morays with a documented chemical defense on top of the teeth.

Eating it is worse. This is one of the morays repeatedly implicated in serious poisoning, which is why FishBase carries the flat warning that it is poisonous to eat - the flag here means exactly that.

Nearly two meters (6 ft) and recorded down to 271 m. On a wall it is a head in a hole, watching, and the yellow mouth is what names it.

## Also known as

- **English:** starry moray, Yellow-mouthed Moray Eel, yellowmouth moray
- **Hebrew:** ניבן צהוב-לע
- **French:** Murène à bouche jaune, Congre tacheté
- **Italian:** Murena dalla bocca gialla
- **German:** Gelbmaulmuräne
- **Spanish:** Morena boca amarilla
- **Portuguese:** Moréia-de-boca-amarela
- **Dutch:** Geelbekmurene
- **Japanese:** アデウツボ, Adeutsubo
- **Chinese:** 秤仔花, 糬鰻, 薯鰻
- **Russian:** Желторотая мурена
- **DA:** Gulmundet muræne

## Scientific synonyms

- *Gymnothorax insignis* Seale, 1917
- *Gymnothorax xanthostomus* Snyder, 1904
- *Lycodontis nudivomer* (Günther, 1867)
- *Muraena nudivomer* Günther, 1867

## Range

East Africa, Federal Republic of Somalia, Indian Ocean, Mozambique, Red Sea, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania

---

*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/moray-eel/yellowmouth-moray)*
*Updated: August 14, 2026*