Teleostei (teleosts) >
Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) >
Muraenidae (Moray eels) > Muraeninae
Etymology: Gymnothorax: Greek, gymnos = naked + Greek, thorax, -akos = breast (Ref. 45335); pseudoherrei: Named for its superficial similarity to and confusion with Gymnothorax herrei Beebe & Tee-Van (1933).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; demersal; depth range 1 - 22 m (Ref. 90102). Tropical
Indo-West Pacific: Maldive Is. and Sri Lanka to Thailand, Indonesia, northern Australia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, New Britain, Palau, and the Solomon Is.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 132087)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Vertebrae: 111 - 116. This species is small size in size (to about 20.0 cm TL) is distinguished by the following characters: dorsal-fin origin is before the gill opening; maxillary teeth are biserial; branchial pores 2; total vertebrae 111-116. Colouration: body plain brown, without dark grooves on throat and posterior part of head (Ref. 132087).
Found in coral reefs in 1-15 m (Ref 90102); in shallow water, but with the deepest collection site at 22 m. This small species is distinctly smaller than Gymnothorax arabicus, largest of 84 specimens reported by Böhlke (2000) was only 18.2 cm TL while the living individual from Sri Lanka (USNM 451459) measures approximately 20.0 cm, it has not grown beyond this size in four years. Reported length of a ripe female was 12.3 cm TL, and a specimen of 14.8 cm TL (USNM 210269) was noticeably swollen and contained large eggs (Ref. 132087).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Smith, D.G., S.V. Bogorodsky, J. Dandar and U. Zajonz, 2024. A new species of short unpatterned moray eel (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae)
from the northwestern Indian Ocean, including the Socotra Archipelago, with a
redescription of Gymnothorax pseudoherrei Böhlke. Zootaxa 5477(4):465-474. (Ref. 132087)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial
Tools
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Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 26.2 - 29.3, mean 28.6 °C (based on 1527 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00048 (0.00025 - 0.00091), b=3.28 (3.12 - 3.44), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.6 ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
