The 100 species identified by scientists range in size from 2-10 feet. The largest is the giant moray which reaches 10 feet in length and weighs 75 pounds. Many have beautiful color patterns which help to camouflage them in the reef. Because morays keep their mouths open almost all of the time, the insides of their mouths are camouflaged also. The common morays in the Caribbean reefs include the spotted, goldentail and green morays.
Morays have muscular, snake-like bodies with thick skin.
They have no scales, but a layer of mucus covers the body and protects the skin from germs and parasites. These fish are also missing the two sets of fins that are normally found on the belly. The p elvic and pectoral fins are not found on morays. The only fin found on the belly is the long anal fin. In the moray, the dorsal, cauda l and anal fins are all connected.