Moray Eel, but which species?

Hi,

it's obviously a moray eel but which one?

Looks a bit like a juvenile Gymnothorax flavimarginatus but I'm absolutely not sure about it.

Picture was taken in Oman/Indian Ocean.

Any hints?

Cheers

Wahrmut

By wahrmut at 2010-09-16

I don't know but that is one superb CFWA

I don't know but that is one superb CFWA

Thanks Gary!

I continued searching and found one of my own older pictures looking similar, a Gymnothorax fimbriatus.

But it doesn't really look like the same species...

Where are the experts???

Cheers

Wahrut

[quote name='waso' date='Sep 17 2010, 03:01 PM' post='261410'

Where are the experts???

Exactly what I was wondering. C'mon people, let's have some help here! Don't expect a worm girl to do fish ids, you know I can barely tell the difference between a Hippocampus and a Mola.... :- D

Haha, morays are hard. That yellow head is pretty distinctive though. Do you have any side shots? I would go with flavimarginatus if it had a black blotch over the gill opening, but can't see from that angle. Anyhow, I will get back to you when I check my Red Sea book in my office on monday.

Hi Luiz,

Haha, morays are hard. That yellow head is pretty distinctive though. Do you have any side shots? I would go with flavimarginatus if it had a black blotch over the gill opening, but can't see from that angle. Anyhow, I will get back to you when I check my Red Sea book in my office on monday.

Here's the only side shot I could make (unprocessed crop):

By wahrmut at 2010-09-19

But is this a black spot at the gill???

Although I also checked my Red Sea ID book I can''t find any similar species...

But this species was not rare at all - it must be mentioned in a book... so maybe it's a juvenile...

The flavimarginatus ist decribed as 'with a yellow brown body dotted with small dark brown specks and a black spot at the gill' - my free translation from a geman Debelius 'Red Sea Reef Guide'

Cheers

Wahrmut

Hi Luiz,

 

 

Here's the only side shot I could make (unprocessed crop):

 

By wahrmut at 2010-09-19

 

But is this a black spot at the gill???

Although I also checked my Red Sea ID book I can''t find any similar species...

But this species was not rare at all - it must be mentioned in a book... so maybe it's a juvenile...

The flavimarginatus ist decribed as 'with a yellow brown body dotted with small dark brown specks and a black spot at the gill' - my free translation from a geman Debelius 'Red Sea Reef Guide'

 

Cheers

 

Wahrmut

I'm far, far ,far from an expert but it looks like the Undulated Moray (Gymnothorax undulatus) I've seen in Maui. Not my photos, but here are a couple links:

http://www.maui.net/maui-people/photos/0/3/14/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterliuphoto/4783965171/

Hi,

thanks anyway, expert or not!

The pictures at least seem to show the same species than mine.

A search on the web confirms your ID.

The strange thing is: My Red Sea Reef Guide shows the Gymnothorax undulatus as well but the pictures are so different that it's almost impossible to use them for an ID (in this case).

Thanks!

Wahrmut

P.S.: Luiz, can you confirm?

Hi,

I'd second that ID of G. undulatus. I've dived a lot in Oman, and it is indeed a relatively common species there. I've just been looking in 'Reef Fishes, UAE and Gulf of Oman' by Richard Field and the photo of G. undulatus in there looks very similar to yours, and the description of colouration also matches up.

There's also another pic from Oman on this page:

From John Randall's photos of this species collected from a variety of places, it looks as though the colouration is highly variable.

John Randall's Moray Specimens

I just remembered that I have a shot of one from last year on Flickr. He's hanging out with a yellow margin:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danopendygras...57622959239413/

Hey guys,

thanks for your support and the ID, finally!!!

Greetings

Wahrmut