 The gills aperture is brown dark.The starry moray is widespread throughout the Indo-Pacific area from eastern coast of Africa, Red Sea included, until Polynesia and Hawaii and from south Japan to New Caledonia.It lives on the outer slopes of coral reefs, sitting sheltered in crevices between 3.3 and 894.3 feet (1 and 271 meters) deep, but is usually seen at depths of around 99 feet (30 meters).