Gymnothorax undulatus  (Lacepède, 1803)

Undulated moray
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Gymnothorax undulatus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Gymnothorax undulatus (Undulated moray)
Gymnothorax undulatus
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).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 9 - 110 m (Ref. 58302).   Tropical; 32°N - 28°S

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 77 - ? cm
Max length : 150 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 - 138. Distinctive pattern of light undulating lines and speckles on a dark green background. Snout often yellow (Ref. 30404).

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

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa, including Walters Shoal (Ref. 33390) to French Polynesia, north to southern Japan and the Hawaiian Islands, south to the southern Great Barrier Reef. Eastern Central Pacific: Costa Rica and Panama (Ref. 9324).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

A common species on reef flats among rocks, rubble, or debris and also occurs in lagoons and seaward reefs to depths of 26 m or more. Cavernicolous (Ref. 8593, 58302). Benthic (Ref. 58302). Nocturnal species that feeds on fishes, octopi, and probably crustaceans. Reported to be an aggressive species and prone to bite. Used in Chinese medicine (Ref. 12166).

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.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Not Evaluated 

Threat to humans

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 4690)




Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | Public aquariums | PubMed | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00000 (0.00000 - 0.00000), b=0.00 (0.00 - 0.00), based on (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.6 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  .
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (68 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.