Marine Protection Induces Morphological Variation in the California Moray, Gymnothorax mordax.

The effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) on the general health and conservation of species, habitats, and community interactions is of great interest to researchers, managers, and recreationalists. However, the ecological and behavioral diversity of vertebrate predators of southern California kelp forests limits our ability to make general conclusions about MPA effectiveness across a variety of species. Identifying and studying species with extreme feeding habits or prey-capture strategies may offer greater insight into predator-prey relationships and reveal the trophic importance of an animal in the larger community.

Eat whole and less often: ontogenetic shift reveals size specialization on kelp bass by the California moray eel, Gymnothorax mordax.

Despite the importance of predation in many ecosystems, gaps remain in our understanding of nocturnal marine predators. Although the kelp forests of Southern California are some of the most well-studied ecosystems, California morays, Gymnothorax mordax, are predominately nocturnal predators that have remained largely unstudied and their predatory effects on the kelp forest ecosystem are unknown. We use a multi-year data set to examine the dietary breadth of G.

The beach-spawning California grunion Leuresthes tenuis eats and digests conspecific eggs.

Apparent egg cannibalism was investigated in the beach-spawning California grunion Leuresthes tenuis. Three hypotheses were tested to determine whether L. tenuis regularly consumes and efficiently digests conspecific eggs.

Effects of prey characteristics on the feeding behaviors of an apex marine predator, the California moray (Gymnothorax mordax).

Moray eels comprise a large radiation of elongate marine predators that are thought to swallow large prey whole but also circumvent gape constraints by manipulating prey into more manageable pieces. Prey manipulation behaviors include shaking, rotation, knotting, and ramming prey against another object to assist in swallowing. Most morays feed on a wide variety of prey that vary in mechanical properties such as stiffness and toughness, which could potentially affect feeding behaviors.

Scaling of dentition and prey size in the California moray (Gymnothorax mordax).

Scaling patterns of tooth morphology can provide insights on prey capture strategy and dietary patterns as species grow through ontogeny. We report the scaling of dentition and diet and how it relates to body size in the California moray, Gymnothorax mordax. We sampled lengths, widths, and curvature for teeth lining five distinct regions of the oral jaws across 21 G.