Niue country information

Common names: Whitemouth moray
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments:
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ne.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Dalzell, P., S.R. Lindsay and H. Patiale, 1991
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Murène voie lactée, Whitemouth moray, Guineafowl moray, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Muraenidae (Moray eels) > Muraeninae
Etymology: Gymnothorax: Greek, gymnos = naked + Greek, thorax, -akos = breast (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Shaw.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 51 m (Ref. 58302). Tropical; 38°N - 36°S, 18°E - 129°W

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

Indo-Pacific: East Africa (Ref. 33390) to Marquesas and Mangaréva, north to the Ryukyu and Hawaiian islands, south to Lord Howe Island. Southeast Atlantic: South Africa.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1602); common length : 80.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30573)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0; Vertebrae: 127 - 132. Mouth white inside, contrasting the outer dark skin with small white spots (Ref. 30404, 48635).

Occurs in coral-rich areas of lagoon and seaward reefs from depths of 1 m to at least 36 m. Prefers very shallow depth and juveniles often in intertidal zones (Ref. 30404). Benthic (Ref. 58302). Often seen hunting during low tide among partly exposed reefs (Ref. 48635). Feeds mainly on fishes, also on crustaceans, by day and probably also at night (Ref. 13550). Caught with various nets (Ref. 30573). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 86942.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

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. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 17 August 2011

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 4690)

Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial

FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators

Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges

Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances

Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics

Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
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Introductions
BRUVS - Videos

Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths

Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)

Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities

Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.

Outreach
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Taxonomy
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Synonyms
Morphology
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Pictures

References
References

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 24.5 - 29, mean 28 (based on 1172 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00059 (0.00038 - 0.00091), b=3.32 (3.19 - 3.45), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.0 ±0.70 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): High to very high vulnerability (72 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Medium.

Gymnothorax meleagris (Shaw, 1795)