Gymnothorax gracilicaudus Jenkins, 1903
This small, pencil-thin moray emerges only at night. The gray-brown back is marked with irregular dark bars. A touch of lavender graces the gill opening. The underside is white. It attains about 12 in. and is one of the comparatively few morays known to change sex, female first, male later. Western and Central Pacific. (G. chilospilus, an uncommon Hawaiian species, is similar but with conspicuous white marks around the pores on the lower jaw and a white mark at the corner of the mouth.) Photo: Makaha Caverns, O`ahu. 25 ft.