Id Please: Not Sure What This Is... Can Anyone Help Please?

[themusicman]

Hi All

These two shots were taken as I was walking in an absolutely fabulous area of the Sinai, called Nabq Protected Area. It is a marine reserve, with very few visitors as it is so far off the beaten track. Fortunately I had an excellent friend in Sharm, who took me out for a days photography and as my wife and the kids frolicked by the pool, my friend and I spent 4 glorious hours strolling in knee-to waist deep crystal clear hot water, into the mangroves, out to a wreck, amongst the rocks etc. It was a photographers heaven, and I was there... in heaven

The sea was so calm, I had my non waterproof camera with me, as well as the underwater one, and managed to take these two shots using the DSLR.

Here's the two shots I took... I admit that I was a little panic stricken as I had no idea what this thing is, and thought it was a sea snake - hence wanting to get away quickly. Can anyone advise please as to what it is and is it dangerous...? For scale it was about 3 feet long.
Thanks.

 

[Harry1996]

some kind of eel? snow flake?

 

[n3ont3tra]

Looks like a snowflake moray eel to me, but the pattern does look a bit off, so I could be wrong, although their patterns do have a lot of variation.

 

[Harry1996]

could just be the water movement be making the patten look go off?

 

[n3ont3tra]

Maybe. They all seem to have the spot pattern on their dorsal fin, and then again on their body, which this also seems to have.

If it is indeed a snowflake eel, they have flat teeth, designed for eating things like crustaceans, not fish. Although it would still hurt if they bite, obviously, I don't think wild ones are terribly aggressive or anything?

 

[themusicman]

Just for illustration, this is the beautiful area I was walking around... Nabq Protected Area, Sinai. It was simply breathtaking.

 

[n3ont3tra]

It looks great, thanks for the pictures!

 

[seffieuk]

It looks great, thanks for the pictures!

Seconded

Seffie x

 

[lewiss]

It looks like a snake!! If I saw that, I'd be 50 miles in the opposite direction!!

Looks like a nice place though!