If you are a trivia nut, you’ll like this one!

Here on Norfolk Island, I do a Reef Brief each Monday, where I talk about Norfolk Island’s reef, the connectedness of ecosystems and the critters that live there. And I often get asked some fascinating questions, some of which I have to take on notice. One such, which has been asked a couple of times now, is this:

How did the snowflake moray get its proper (scientific) name Echidna nebulosa, and what does it have to do with Australia’s famous and iconic marsupial, the echidna?

Excellent question. I had no idea. So I did a bit of research to find the answer.

In Greek mythology, Echidna was a half-woman, half-snake monster who lived along in a cave. In other words, a bit of this and a bit of that. You can read more about her on a comprehensive Wikipedia page on the topic.

Which is why, in 1797, Baron Georges Cuvier suggested this name for the echidna marsupial to reflect its combined mammalian and reptilian characteristics. However, predating Cuvier’s naming of the echidna, in 1789, the snowflake moray had already snagged the scientific name, Echidna (genus) nebulosa (species) had already snagged the scientific name of Echidna. Consequently, Cuvier’s name was relegated to being the marsupial echidna’s common, or generic, name. So, for example, the short-beaked echidna, which is found in Austalia, is known as the Tachyglossus aculeatus.

But returning to the snowflake moray: it is one of 11 species of moray in the Echidna family, presumably so named to reflect its snake-like qualities. It goes by several other common names, including Bosch’s reef-eel, clouded eel, clouded moray, clouded reef eel and starry eel.

To complicate matters further, there is the Atractus echidna (genus + species), a fairly recently recognised species of snake, where the species name of Echidna refers to its contrasting anterior/posterior colouration pattern, referencing Echidna of Greek mythology’s hybrid nature (which makes sense).

So there you go!