Gymnothorax meleagris, Turkey moray : fisheries, aquarium

Gymnothorax meleagris (Shaw, 1795)

Turkey moray
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Gymnothorax meleagris   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Gymnothorax meleagris (Turkey moray)
Gymnothorax meleagris
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: Shaw.

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

Marine; freshwater; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 51 m (Ref. 58302). Tropical; 38°N - 36°S, 18°E - 129°W

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

Indo-Pacific: East Africa (Ref. 33390) to Marquesas and Mangaréva, north to the Ryukyu and Hawaiian islands, south to Lord Howe Island. Southeast Atlantic: South Africa.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1602); common length : 80.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30573)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0; Vertebrae: 127 - 132. Mouth white inside, contrasting the outer dark skin with small white spots (Ref. 30404, 48635).
Body shape (shape guide): eel-like; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in coral-rich areas of lagoon and seaward reefs from depths of 1 m to at least 36 m. Prefers very shallow depth and juveniles often in intertidal zones (Ref. 30404). Benthic (Ref. 58302). Often seen hunting during low tide among partly exposed reefs (Ref. 48635). Feeds mainly on fishes, also on crustaceans, by day and probably also at night (Ref. 13550). Caught with various nets (Ref. 30573). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 86942.

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

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: Version 2025-2)

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

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

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

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |