You might think that a post with the title of "Impressive Teeth" might be about a shark or perhaps even a baracuda, but no... these particular set of chompers belong to a "small-ish" eel.

Spotted Morays (Gymnothorax moringa) are pretty common on the reef, and they are often pretty bold and will hold their ground and allow a close approach, making for some nice close-up shots. They also need to continually force water over their gills by opening and closing their mouths which allows for a nice view of their impressive fangs. It might appear intimidating at first, but they are rarely aggressive.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/160th sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

The most impressive things about their teeth? Notice that third row of teeth down the middle? They're the only animal that I know of that have those. They've meant to help them catch and hold fish. (Oh - and check out the bonus banded coral shrimp in the above shot).

Here's a slightly closer shot...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/160th sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

- Bill