UNDULATED MORAY juvenile
Gymnothorax undulatus
   Pat Richardson and her sister Jan Brimacombe spotted this tiny eel in a tide pool at Honaunau, Hawai'i. Jan snapped this picture. The eel was about 3 inches long. I initially thought it might be a juvenile Giant Moray Gymnothorax javanicus, based on a published photo by Dr. John E. Randall of a preserved specimen from the Red Sea (shown below), and posted it here as such, even though the Giant Moray is very rare in Hawaii. Since then, however, I have seen several similar juvenile eels in tide pools. Also, similar photos from Hawaii have been posted on iNaturalist (see links below). These little spotted eels seen to be quite common, which leads me to believe that they are more likely to be juveniles of a common species, the obvious candidate being the Undulated Moray (G. undulatus), which is common in Hawaii in shallow water close to shore. Two very experienced Hawaii-based ichthyologists, Brian Greene and Richard Pyle, provisionally agree, noting that these juveniles can be quite variable in color. Richard said that he used to keep these tiny eels in his aquarium years ago and that he was pretty sure they were juvenile Undulated Morays.

See also:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/178935759
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/18045559
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/172744859

* Randall, J.E. & Golani, D, 1995. Review of the Moray Eels (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) of the Red Sea. Bulletin of Marine Science 56(3): 849-880.