You can sponsor this page

Gymnothorax elaineheemstrae Sithole, Smith & Gouws, 2020

Marbled leopard moray
Upload your photos and videos
 Google image
Image of Gymnothorax elaineheemstrae (Marbled leopard moray)
No image available for this species;
drawing shows typical species in Muraenidae.

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); elaineheemstrae: Named after Mrs Elaine Heemstra (NRF-SAIAB Honorary Research Associate) for her tremendous support in mentoring the first author in fish taxonomy.

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

Marine; demersal; depth range ? - 40 m (Ref. 123145). Tropical

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

Western Indian Ocean: South Africa.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 71.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 123145)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 136. This species is distinguished by the following characters: dorsal-fin origin is anterior to gill opening; anal-fin origin just behind anus; body with mottled and faintly reticulated color pattern on a dark brown background; long intermaxillary canines 3, in a median row; vomerine teeth small, in a single row; maxillary teeth biserial; vertebral count: predorsal 3-5, preanal 54-58, total 134-136 (Ref. 123145).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in rock, intertidal and tide pools and sand bottoms (Ref. 123145).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Sithole, Y., D.G. Smith, M. Mwale and G. Gouws, 2020. A taxonomic revision of Gymnothorax undulatus (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) in the Western Indian Ocean, with description of a new species. Zootaxa 4767(1):161-181. (Ref. 123145)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of potential interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = No PD50 data   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.0   ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (48 of 100).