Gymnothorax rueppelliae

The banded moray, also called Rüppell's moray, the yellow-headed moray, or the black barred eel, is a species of moray eel that lives in tropical coral reefs. Its body is pale grey to greyish-brown, marked with 16 to 21 dark bars, while its head is bright yellow with a dark spot at the corner of the mouth. The snout and front of the head are yellowish, and the dark brown bands wrap fully around the body, continuing onto the head up to the snout; these bands fade as the eel ages. A close relative, *Gymnothorax pikei*, lives in Papua New Guinea and can be told apart by having more vomerine teeth. This species reaches a maximum length of 80 cm (31 in). Its scientific name honors the German naturalist and explorer Eduard Rüppell. In Hawaiian, it is called *puhi 'apo*, meaning "to catch or grasp," a name designated by Mary Kawena Pukui in 1978.

*Gymnothorax rueppelliae* is found across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Hawaii, the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Marquesas Islands, north to the Ryukyu Islands, and south to the Great Barrier Reef. It lives in lagoons and coral reefs, preferring clear waters at depths between 1 and 40 m (3 ft 3 in to 131 ft 3 in), with some individuals reported as deep as 30 m (98 ft). Nocturnal and mostly bottom-dwelling, it is known for nervous and aggressive behavior, especially when disturbed. An active predator, it feeds mainly on fish, crabs, and shrimp. Like other moray eels, it reproduces by laying eggs (oviparous), with little to no embryonic development inside the mother. Its reproductive behavior is thought to be influenced by water temperature, lunar cycles, and seasonal changes, though specific spawning sites and behaviors in the wild remain poorly understood.