| Muraenidae (Moray eels), subfamily: Muraeninae |
| 60 cm TL (male/unsexed) |
|
demersal; marine; depth range - 56 m |
| Indo-West Pacific: Mauritius (Ref. 33390) to southern Japan and Indonesia. Likely to occur in Seychelles (Ref. 1623). Recorded off the northern coast of Israel in the Mediterranean (Ref. 93345). |
|
Has broad dark bands that are distinct when juvenile but break up in large individuals (Ref. 48635). |
| Caught at great depths; ca 100 m on sandy gravel bottom (Ref. 11230, 48635). Often caught by trawls. Used in Chinese medicine (Ref. 12166). |
|
Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 18 November 2019 Ref. (130435)
|
| traumatogenic |
|
Museum: Eilat, Gulf of Aqaba, HUJ 14667 (Ref. 27470). Also reporetd from the Mediteranean.
The most reasonable introduction route of G. reticularis into the Mediterranean is based on the morphological similarities with the single Red Sea record. These similarities indicate that the newly reported specimen most likely originated from the Red Sea; hence it invaded the Mediterranean via the major common vector, the Suez Canal. Another possible route for introducing G. reticularis into the Mediterranean is based on the genus Gymnothorax providing many species for the world's ornamental fish trade (Monteiro-Neto et al. 2003; Jayalal & Ramachandran 2012). It is therefore also possible that the reported specimen of G. reticularis was simply released by aquarists into the Levant Basin. Further sightings of G. reticularis in the Mediterranean will clearly determine whether this alien species has managed to integrate within the Levantine ichthyofauna or that it will remain as a single esoteric record (Ref. 93345). |
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