Gymnothorax moringa, Spotted moray : fisheries, aquarium

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Gymnothorax moringa (Cuvier, 1829)

Spotted moray
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Gymnothorax moringa   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Gymnothorax moringa (Spotted moray)
Gymnothorax moringa
Picture by Patzner, R.

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: Cuvier.

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

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 200 m (Ref. 9710), usually 0 - 35 m (Ref. 40849). Subtropical; 37°N - 26°S, 98°W - 5°W

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

Western Atlantic: North Carolina, USA and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean to southeastern Brazil. Eastern Atlantic: Ascension and St. Helena (Ref. 4450). Mid- and eastern Atlantic islands (Ref. 26938).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 57911); common length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 2.5 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Moderate-size moray with a pattern of distinct small, round, overlapping dark brownish to purplish-black spots on white or pale yellow background (Ref. 26938).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

A benthic and solitary species (Ref. 26340) abundant in shallow rocky and grassy areas and on coral reefs; less common in turbid bays or harbors. Its bite is very dangerous (Ref. 5217). Active during the day, sometimes together with other predators. Feeds on fish and crustaceans (Ref. 42064). Usually seen with its head protruding from a hole and the rest of its body concealed (Ref. 26938). Observed to be unusually aggressive towards man (Ref. 86997). It has been traded as aquarium fish at Ceará, Brazil (Ref. 49392). Marketed fresh and salted (Ref. 5217).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Spawning migrations, leptocephalus larvae.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 18 August 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 5217)





Human uses

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

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
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Aquaculture profile
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Mass conversion
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Stamps, Coins Misc.
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Ciguatera
Speed
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Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
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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 | DORIS | 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 | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 23.3 - 28, mean 26.5 °C (based on 630 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00055 (0.00036 - 0.00083), b=3.27 (3.15 - 3.39), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.8 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Assuming tmax>10).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 10.1 [4.9, 20.1] mg/100g; Iron = 0.399 [0.211, 0.819] mg/100g; Protein = 19.5 [17.2, 22.0] %; Omega3 = 0.161 [0.064, 0.501] g/100g; Selenium = 32.8 [15.0, 68.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 41.4 [10.9, 160.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.431 [0.281, 0.657] mg/100g (wet weight);