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Gymnothorax margaritophorus  Bleeker, 1864

Blotch-necked moray
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2100
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Gymnothorax margaritophorus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Gymnothorax margaritophorus (Blotch-necked moray)
Gymnothorax margaritophorus
Picture by Randall, J.E.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Muraenidae (Moray eels) > Muraeninae
Etymology: Gymnothorax: Greek, gymnos = naked + Greek, thorax, -akos = breast (Ref. 45335).   More on author: Bleeker.

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 8 - 25 m (Ref. 30874).   Tropical, preferred ?; 30°N - 24°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: East Africa to the Line and Society islands, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to the southern Great Barrier Reef.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 70.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1602)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0; Vertebrae: 126 - 143. Color yellowish, mottled and irregularly barred with brown shading to whitish ventrally on head and abdomen. Further characterized by body depth at gill opening 18-23 in TL; origin of dorsal fin slightly closer to gill opening than corner of mouth; anus anterior to middle of body; front of upper jaw with three rows of teeth with 3-4 canines on outer row on each side, small teeth in between; two large canines of middle row; side of upper jaw with outer row of small teeth; about four large teeth in inner row; row of small teeth on each side of lower jaw; front of jaw with two pairs of small canines (Ref. 90102).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs at reef flats and outer reef slopes to a depth of at least 20 m. Feeds on fishes, cephalopodes and crustaceans (Ref. 89972). Unlikely to be encountered without the use of ichthyocide (Ref. 1602, 37816, 58302). Benthic (Ref. 58302). Possibly a protogynous hermaphrodite (Ref. 32169). Common, but highly cryptic and seldom seen (Ref 90102).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Protogyny unconfirmed (Ref. 84746).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Chen, H.-M., K.-T. Shao and C.T. Chen, 1994. A review of the muraenid eels (Family Muraenidae) from Taiwan with descriptions of twelve new records. Zool. Stud. 33(1):44-64. (Ref. 6934)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
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Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishes of Iran | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00095 (0.00047 - 0.00196), b=3.10 (2.93 - 3.27), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.7 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (51 of 100) .