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Gymnothorax margaritophorus Bleeker, 1864

Blotch-necked moray
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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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(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: Bleeker.

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

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 25 m (Ref. 30874). Tropical; 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 Identification keys | 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). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 86942.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | 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. 130435)

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

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
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Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
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Ecosystems
Occurrences
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
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Aquaculture profiles
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Stamps, coins, misc.
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References

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 25.2 - 29.3, mean 28.4 °C (based on 2518 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00046 (0.00030 - 0.00069), b=3.24 (3.12 - 3.36), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.7 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (48 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 37 [20, 62] mg/100g; Iron = 0.473 [0.288, 0.963] mg/100g; Protein = 18.6 [16.4, 21.2] %; Omega3 = 0.0983 [, ] g/100g; Selenium = 36.2 [20.6, 72.2] μg/100g; VitaminA = 67.5 [19.1, 201.0] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.06 [0.76, 1.45] mg/100g (wet weight);