''Gymnothorax'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Muraenidae
Moray eels, or Muraenidae (), are a family of eels whose members are found worldwide. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera which are almost exclusively marine, but several species are regularly seen in brackish water, ...
found in
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
,
Indian, and
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
s. With more than 120 species, it the most speciose genus of moray eels.
notes that ''Gymnothorax'' as currently recognized is polyphyletic, but cautioned that comparative studies are needed before action is taken to resurrect generic synonyms of ''Gymnothorax''.
Description
Species in this genus are slender (most skinny one being ''
Gymnothorax gracilicauda'' )and can get up to 6-8 feet. Like all
moray eels have
pharyngeal jaws.
Species
Both
FishBase
FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web. and
World Register of Marine Species
The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms.
Content
The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...
recognize a total of 128 valid species in the genus.
However, each database includes three species that the other does not list, which are noted in the list below.
* ''
Gymnothorax afer''
Bloch
Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include:
A
*Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925), Austrian entrepreneur
*Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter
*Alexandre Bloch (1857–1919), French painter
*Alfred Bloch ( ...
, 1795 (Dark moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax albimarginatus''
( Temminck & Schlegel, 1846) (White-margin moray)
*''
Gymnothorax andamanensis''
* ''
Gymnothorax angusticauda''
( M. C. W. Weber & de Beaufort, 1916) (Narrow-tail moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax angusticeps''
(Hildebrand
Hildebrand is a character from Germanic heroic legend. ''Hildebrand'' is the modern German form of the name: in Old High German it is ''Hiltibrant'' and in Old Norse ''Hildibrandr''. The word ''hild'' means "battle" and ''brand'' means "sword" ...
& F. O. Barton, 1949)
* ''
Gymnothorax annasona''
Whitley, 1937 (Lord Howe Island moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax annulatus''
D. G. Smith & E. B. Böhlke, 1997 (Ringed moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax arabicus
''Gymnothorax arabicus'' is a species of moray eel in the genus ''Gymnothorax''. It was described in 2024 from Socotra, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Before its description, specimens of this species were confused with the similar false brown ...
''
D. G. Smith, Bogorodsky, Dandar & Zajonz, 2024
* ''
Gymnothorax atolli''
( Pietschmann, 1935) (Atoll moray)
*''
Gymnothorax aurocephalus''
Nashad, Mohapatra, Varghese & Bineesh, 2020 (Goldenhead moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax australicola''
Lavenberg, 1992 (South Pacific moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax austrinus''
E. B. Böhlke & McCosker, 2001 (Southern moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax bacalladoi''
E. B. Böhlke & Brito, 1987 (Canary moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax baranesi''
D. G. Smith, Brokovich & Einbinder, 2008
* ''
Gymnothorax bathyphilus''
J. E. Randall & McCosker, 1975 (Deep-dwelling moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax berndti''
Snyder, 1904 (Y-patterned moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax breedeni''
McCosker & J. E. Randall, 1977 (Black-cheek moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax buroensis''
( Bleeker, 1857) (Vagrant moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax castaneus''
( D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert, 1883) (Panamic green moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax castlei''
E. B. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 1999 (Castle's moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax cephalospilus''
E. B. Böhlke & McCosker, 2001 (Head-spot moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax chilospilus''
Bleeker, 1864 (Lip-spot moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax chlamydatus''
Snyder, 1908 (Banded mud moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax conspersus''
Poey, 1867 (Saddled moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax cribroris''
Whitley, 1932 (Sieve-patterned moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax davidsmithi''
McCosker & J. E. Randall, 2008 (Flores mud moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax dorsalis''
Seale, 1917
* ''
Gymnothorax dovii''
( Günther, 1870) (Fine-spotted moray)
*''
Gymnothorax elaineheemstrae''
* ''
Gymnothorax elegans''
Bliss
BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C ...
, 1883 (Elegant moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax emmae''
Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
, 2010[Prokofiev, A.M. (2010)]
Two New Species of Fishes from Families Muraenidae (Anguilliformes) and Mugiloididae (Perciformes) from the Waters of Vietnam.
''Journal of Ichthyology, 50 (8): 580-589.''
* ''
Gymnothorax enigmaticus''
McCosker & J. E. Randall, 1982 (Enigmatic moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax equatorialis''
(Hildebrand, 1946) (Spot-tail moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax eurostus''
( C. C. Abbott, 1860) (Abbott's moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax eurygnathos''
E. B. Böhlke, 2001
* ''
Gymnothorax favagineus''
Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801 (Laced moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax fimbriatus''
( E. T. Bennett, 1832) (Fimbriated moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax flavimarginatus''
( Rüppell, 1830) (Yellow-edged moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax flavoculus''
(E. B. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 1996) (Pale-nose moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax formosus''
Bleeker, 1864
* ''
Gymnothorax funebris''
Ranzani, 1839 (Green moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax fuscomaculatus''
( L. P. Schultz, 1953) (Brown-spotted moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax gracilicauda''
O. P. Jenkins, 1903 (Slender-tail moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax griseus''
( Lacépède, 1803) (Geometric moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax hansi''
Heemstra, 2004
* ''
Gymnothorax hepaticus''
(Rüppell, 1830) (Liver-colored moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax herrei''
Beebe & Tee-Van, 1933 (Herre's moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax hubbsi''
J. E. Böhlke & E. B. Böhlke, 1977 (Lichen moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax indicus''
Mohapatra, D. Ray, D. G. Smith & Mishra, 2016 (Indian unpatterened moray)
[Mohapatra, A., Ray, D., Smith, D.G. & Mishra, S.S. (2016): A new species of elongate unpatterned moray eel of the genus ''Gymnothorax'' (Muraenidae: Muraeninae) from the Bay of Bengal. ''Zootaxa, 4150 (5): 591–598.'']
* ''
Gymnothorax intesi''
( Fourmanoir & Rivaton, 1979) (White-tip moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax isingteena''
( J. Richardson, 1845) (Indo-Pacific spotted moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax javanicus''
(Bleeker, 1859) (Giant moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax johnsoni''
(J. L. B. Smith
James Leonard Brierley Smith (26 September 1897 – 8 January 1968) was a South African ichthyology, ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought t ...
, 1962) (White-spotted moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax kidako''
(Temminck & Schlegel, 1846) (Kidako moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax kolpos''
J. E. Böhlke & E. B. Böhlke, 1980 (Black-tail moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax kontodontos
The short-tooth moray (''Gymnothorax kontodontos'') is a moray eel found in coral reefs in the eastern central Pacific Ocean around Fanning Island. ''
E. B. Böhlke, 2000 (Short-tooth moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax longinquus''
(Whitley, 1948)
* ''
Gymnothorax maderensis''
( J. Y. Johnson, 1862) (Shark-tooth moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax mareei''
Poll
Poll, polled, or polling may refer to:
Forms of voting and counting
* Poll, a formal election
** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts
** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions
** Polling pla ...
, 1953 (Spot-jaw moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax margaritophorus''
Bleeker, 1864 (Blotch-necked moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax marshallensis''
( L. P. Schultz, 1953) (Marshall Islands moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax mccoskeri''
D. G. Smith & E. B. Böhlke, 1997
* ''
Gymnothorax megaspilus''
E. B. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 1995 (Oman moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax melanosomatus''
K. H. Loh, K. T. Shao & H. M. Chen, 2011 (Black-body moray)
[Loh, K.-H., Shao, K.-T. & Chen, H.-M. (2011)]
''Gymnothorax melanosomatus'', a new moray eel (Teleostei: Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) from southeastern Taiwan.
''Zootaxa, 3134: 43–52.''
* ''
Gymnothorax melatremus''
L. P. Schultz, 1953 (Dwarf moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax meleagris''
( G. Shaw, 1795) (Turkey moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax microspila''
(Günther, 1870)
* ''
Gymnothorax microstictus''
E. B. Böhlke, 2000 (Small-spot moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax miliaris''
(Kaup, 1856) (Golden-tail moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax minor''
(Temminck & Schlegel, 1846)
* ''
Gymnothorax mishrai''
D. Ray, Mohapatra & D. G. Smith, 2015 (Bengal moray)
[Ray, D., Mohapatra, A. & Smith, D.G. (2015): A new species of Short Brown Unpatterned Moray Eel of the Genus ''Gymnothorax'' (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) from the Bay of Bengal. ''Zootaxa, 4027 (1): 140–144.'']
* ''
Gymnothorax moluccensis''
(Bleeker, 1864) (Moluccan moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax monochrous''
(Bleeker, 1856) (Drab moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax monostigma''
( Regan, 1909) (One-spot moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax mordax''
( Ayres, 1859) (California moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax moringa''
( G. Cuvier, 1829) (Spotted moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax mucifer''
Snyder, 1904
* ''
Gymnothorax nasuta''
F. de Buen, 1961 (Easter Island moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax neglectus''
S. Tanaka (I), 1911
* ''
Gymnothorax nigromarginatus''
( Girard, 1858) (Black-edge moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax niphostigmus''
H. M. Chen, K. T. Shao & C. T. Chen, 1996 (Snowflake-patched moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax nubilus''
(J. Richardson, 1848) (Grey moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax nudivomer
''Gymnothorax nudivomer'', the starry moray or yellowmouth moray, is a species of marine fish in the Family (biology), family Muraenidae.
Description
The starry moray is a large sized fish that can reach a maximum length of 180 cm, but the ...
''
(Günther, 1867) (Yellow-mouth moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax nuttingi''
Snyder, 1904 (Nutting's moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax obesus''
(Whitley, 1932) (Griffin's moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax ocellatus''
Agassiz
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history.
Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...
, 1831 (Caribbean ocellated moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax odishi''
Mohapatra, Mohanty, Smith, Mishra, and Roy, 2018[Mohapatra, A., S. R. Mohanty, D. G. Smith, S. S. Mishra and S. Roy 2018. ''Gymnothorax odishi'' sp. nov. (Muraenidae: Muraeninae), a short brown unpatterned moray eel from Bay of Bengal, India. Zootaxa 4420 (no. 1): 123-130.]
* ''
Gymnothorax panamensis''
( Steindachner, 1876) (Masked moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax parini''
Collette, D. G. Smith & E. B. Böhlke, 1991
* ''
Gymnothorax phalarus''
W. A. Bussing, 1998
* ''
Gymnothorax pharaonis''
D. G. Smith, et. al. 2019 (Pharaoh's moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax phasmatodes''
(J. L. B. Smith], 1962) (Ghost moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax philippinus''
D. S. Jordan & Seale, 1907 (Philippines moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax pictus''
( J. N. Ahl, 1789) (Paint-spotted moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax pikei''
Bliss, 1883 (Pike's moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax pindae''
J. L. B. Smith, 1962 (Pinda moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax poikilospilus''
Chen & Huang, 2022
* ''
Gymnothorax polygonius''
Poey, 1875 (Polygon moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax polyspondylus''
E. B. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 2000
* ''
Gymnothorax polyuranodon
''Gymnothorax polyuranodon'', commonly known as the freshwater moray, is a species of moray eel that is native to the Indo-Pacific region, including Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the northern coastline of Australia, and ...
''
(Bleeker, 1854) (Freshwater moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax porphyreus''
( Guichenot, 1848) (Low-fin moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax prasinus''
(J. Richardson, 1848) (Yellow moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax prionodon''
J. D. Ogilby, 1895 (Australian mottled moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax prismodon''
E. B. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 2000
* ''
Gymnothorax prolatus
''Gymnothorax prolatus'' is a moray eel found in the northwest Pacific Ocean, around Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formos ...
''
K. Sasaki & Amaoka, 1991
* ''
Gymnothorax pseudoherrei''
E. B. Böhlke, 2000 (False brown moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax pseudokidako''
Huang, Loh & Liao, 2021
* ''
Gymnothorax pseudomelanosomatus''
K. H. Loh, K. T. Shao & H. M. Chen, 2015 (False black-body moray)
[Loh, K.-H., Shao, K.-T., Ho, H.-C., Lim, P.-E. & Chen, H.-M. (2015)]
A new species of moray eel (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) from Taiwan, with comments on related elongate unpatterned species.
''Zootaxa, 4060 (1): 30-40.''
* ''
Gymnothorax pseudothyrsoideus''
(Bleeker, 1853) (High-fin moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax pseudotile''
Mohapatra, Smith, Ray, Mishra & Mohanty, 2017 (Bengal low-fin moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax punctatofasciatus''
Bleeker, 1863 (Bars'n-spots moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax punctatus''
Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801 (Red Sea white-spotted moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax randalli''
D. G. Smith & E. B. Böhlke, 1997 (Randall's moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax reevesii''
(J. Richardson, 1845) (Reeve's moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax reticularis''
Bloch, 1795
* ''
Gymnothorax richardsonii''
(Bleeker, 1852) (Richardson's moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax robinsi''
E. B. Böhlke, 1997 (Robins' moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax rueppelliae''
( McClelland, 1844) (Banded moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax ryukyuensis''
Hatooka, 2003
* ''
Gymnothorax sagenodeta''
(Richardson, 1848)
* ''
Gymnothorax sagmacephalus''
E. B. Böhlke, 1997
* ''
Gymnothorax saxicola''
D. S. Jordan & B. M. Davis, 1891 (Ocellated moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax serratidens''
(Hildebrand & F. O. Barton, 1949)
* ''
Gymnothorax shaoi''
H. M. Chen & K. H. Loh, 2007
* ''
Gymnothorax sokotrensis''
Kotthaus, 1968
* ''
Gymnothorax steindachneri''
D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1903 (Steindachner's moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax taiwanensis''
H. M. Chen, K. H. Loh & K. T. Shao, 2008 (Taiwanese moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax tamilnaduensis''
Kodeeswaran, Kantharajan, Mohapatra, Kumar & Sarkar 2023
* ''
Gymnothorax thyrsoideus''
(J. Richardson, 1845) (Grey-face moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax tile''
( F. Hamilton, 1822) (Indian mud moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax undulatus''
(Lacépède, 1803) (Undulated moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax unicolor''
( Delaroche, 1809) (Brown moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax vagrans''
(Seale, 1917)
* ''
Gymnothorax verrilli''
(D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert, 1883) (White-edged moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax vicinus''
( Castelnau, 1855) (Purple-mouth moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax visakhaensis''
Mohapatra, Smith, Mohanty, Mishra & Tudu, 2017
* ''
Gymnothorax walvisensis''
Prokofiev, 2009
* ''
Gymnothorax woodwardi''
McCulloch, 1912
* ''
Gymnothorax ypsilon''
Hatooka & J. E. Randall, 1992 (Y-bar moray)
* ''
Gymnothorax zonipectis''
Seale, 1906 (Barred-fin moray)
Notes
References
{{Authority control
Marine fish genera
Taxa named by Marcus Elieser Bloch