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Gymnothorax pictus (Ahl, 1789)
PAINTED MORAY
Bar-cheeked Eel; Black-speckled Reef-eels; Peppered Moray; Muraena elegantissima Kaup, 1856; Muraena picta Ahl, 1789; Muraena siderea Richardson, 1848

Life   Vertebrata   Fish   Muraenidae   Gymnothorax

Gymnothorax pictus
© Copyright Gerald Allen, 2006 · 0
Gymnothorax pictus

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Overview
Main identification features
  • white + dense black spots
Dorsal and anal fins covered with skin, but clearly evident; dorsal fin origin above level of gill opening; posterior nostrils not tubular, at most a raised rim; teeth pointed and well developed, but not of canine proportions; teeth in upper jaw in a single row, conical at front of jaw, becoming compressed along side of jaw; a single conical tooth between the top jaws; two rows of teeth at front of lower jaw, the outer row small; no depressible fangs at middle of upper jaw; rear of roof of mouth with 2 rows of teeth.

White with dense covering of small black spots; juveniles with relatively larger black spots in about three longitudinal rows.

Size: to 140 cm.

Habitat: rocky bottoms.

Depth: 0-5 m.

Widespread in the tropical Indo-Pacific from East Africa to the Americas; in the eastern Pacific it occurs at western Panama and Costa Rica and offshore islands including Clipperton, the Revillagigedos, Cocos and the Galapagos.

Bohlke and Randall (2000) reassinged this species from Siderea to Gymnothorax.


Attributes
Abundance: Common.
Cites: Not listed.
Climate Zone: Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos); Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo).
Depth Range Max: 5 m.
Depth Range Min: 0 m.
Diet: mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs); bony fishes.
Eastern Pacific Range: Northern limit=20; Southern limit=-2; Western limit=-115; Eastern limit=-81; Latitudinal range=22; Longitudinal range=34.
Egg Type: Pelagic; Pelagic larva.
Feeding Group: Carnivore.
FishBase Habitat: Reef Associated.
Global Endemism: All Pacific (West + Central + East); Indo-Pacific only (Indian + Pacific Oceans); TEP non-endemic; "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific); All species.
Habitat: Corals; Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom); Rocks; Reef (rock &/or coral); Reef only.
Inshore Offshore: Inshore; Inshore Only.
IUCN Red List: Not evaluated / Listed.
Length Max: 140 cm.
Regional Endemism: Island (s); Continent; Continent + Island (s); Eastern Pacific non-endemic; Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic; All species.
Residency: Resident.
Salinity: Marine; Marine Only.
Water Column Position: Bottom; Bottom only;


Names
Scientific source:

Links to other sites

References
  • Ahl, J. N., 1789., Specimen ichthyologicum de Muraena et Ophichtho, quod venia exp. fac. Med. ups. Praeside Carol. Pet. Thunberg, etc. Upsala., Spec. Muraena Ophichtho., :1-14.
  • Allen , G.R. and Robertson, D.R., 1994., Fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific., Crawford House Press Pty Ltd:1-332.
  • Allen , G.R. and Robertson, D.R., 1997., An Annotated Checklist of the fishes of Clipperton Atoll, Tropical Eastern Pacific., Revista de Biologia Tropical, 45:813-843.
  • Castro-Aguirre, J.L. and Balart, E.F., 2002., La ictiofauna de las islas Revillagigedos y sus relaciones zoogeograficas, con comentarios acerca de su origen y evolucion. En: Lozano-Vilano, M. L. (Ed.). Libro Jubilar en Honor al Dr. Salvador Contreras Balderas., Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León:153-170.
  • Fischer , W. , Krup , F. , Schneider , W. , Sommer , C. , Carpenter , K. E. and Niem, V. H., 1995., Guia FAO para la Identificacion de Especies de para los fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. Volumen III. Vertebrados - Parte 2., FAO3:1201-1813.
  • Jordan , and McGregor,., 1898., List of fishes collected at the Revillagigedo archipelago and neighboring islands., Rept. U.S. Fisheries Comm., 24:271-284.
  • McCosker , J.E. and Rosenblatt, R.H., 1975., The moray eels (Pisces: Muraenidae) of the Galapagos Islands, with new records and synonymies of extralimital species., Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 40:417-427.
  • Robertson , D.R. and Allen, G.A., 1996., Zoogeography of the shorefish fauna of Clipperton Atoll., Coral Reefs, 15:121-131.
  • Rosenblatt , R.H. , McCosker , J.E. and Rubinoff, I., 1972., Indo-west Pacific fishes from the Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama., Contrib. Sci. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles Co., 234:18pp.
  • Snodgrass , R. E. and Heller, E., 1905., Papers from the Hopkins Stanford Galapagos expedition, 1898-1899. XVII. Shorefishes of the Revillagigedo, Clipperton, Cocos and Galapagos Island., Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., 6:333-427.
  • Walker, B. W. and Baldwin, W. J., 1964., Provisional check list of fishes of the Revillagigedo islands., 18 pp.

Acknowledgements

I thank Ashley MacDonald and John Pickering, University of Georgia, for technical support in building this page.


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