Gymnomuraena zebra ( Shaw 1797 )

Smith, David G., Bogorodsky, Sergey V., Mal, Ahmad O. & Alpermann, Tilman J., 2019, Review of the moray eels (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) of the Red Sea, with description of a new species, Zootaxa 4704 (1), pp. 1-87 : 16-17

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4704.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0AF043C6-38E4-4546-A7FB-C43BAC5A9837
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7314702
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/A84F87BC-FF8E-6937-FF5A-FB8EFDA6FD5B
treatment provided by	Plazi (2019-12-05 09:28:00, last updated 2024-11-26 02:33:25)
scientific name	Gymnomuraena zebra ( Shaw 1797 )
status

Treatment

Gymnomuraena zebra ( Shaw 1797) View in CoL —Zebra Moray

( Figure 7 View FIGURE 7 )

Gymnothorax zebra Shaw in Shaw & Nodder 1797: 4 View in CoL unnum. pp., pl. 322 (Sumatra, Indonesia [erroneously given originally as American seas]). Holotype (unique), BMNH 1977.4.22.4.

Muraena zebra: Klunzinger, 1871: 620 View in CoL .

Echidna zebra: Fowler 1945: 119 View in CoL ; Clark et al. 1968: 21; Dor 1984: 27; Goren & Dor 1994: 7; Khalaf & Disi 1997: 39.

Gymnomuraena zebra: Khalaf 2004: 37 View in CoL ; Randall & Golani 1995: 853; Golani & Bogorodsky 2010: 10; Golani & Fricke 2018: 20.

Red Sea material. Egypt: HUJ 15143 (1, 495), Ras Muhammad. Eritrea: USNM 312170 (2, 545–547), Isola Delemme.

Comparative material. Chagos Archipelago: USNM 306603 About USNM (1, 362) ; USNM 312169 About USNM (1, 370) . Indonesia, Sumatra: BMNH 1977.4 .22.4 (1, 732, holotype). Hawaii: USNM 108807 About USNM (1, 499) ; USNM 402389 About USNM (1, 663) . Panama: USNM 318328 About USNM (1, 386) ; USNM 361595 About USNM (1, 165).

Description. In TL: preanal length 1.4–1.5, head length 8.3–11, body depth at anus 16–22. In head length: snout length 5.4–7.4, eye diameter 10–12, upper-jaw length 2.5–3.3. Pores: LL 2, SO 3, IO 4, POM 6. Vertebrae: predorsal 13–17, preanal 82–86, total 127–134.

Body moderately stout; anus well behind mid-length; tail blunt; dorsal fin begins slightly behind gill opening; anal fin begins immediately behind anus, fins largely concealed externally by thick skin. Head relatively deep, snout short. Eye well developed, over middle of upper jaw. Gill opening small, low on side. Anterior nostril tubular, relatively short; posterior nostril in a short tube, above anterior part of eye.

Teeth large, blunt, molariform. Intermaxillary teeth in an oval patch, about 4–5 teeth across, outer teeth smaller than inner. Maxillary teeth small, in a short row, one to two series. Dentary teeth biserial, with a few small teeth anteriorly forming a third row, anterior teeth in main series somewhat larger anteriorly. Vomerine teeth large and prominent, in an elliptical patch, narrowing to a single tooth posteriorly, two teeth anteriorly, confluent with intermaxillary teeth.

Color: dark brown to orange-brown, with numerous narrow pale yellowish or white bars on head and body; number of bars varying from about 25 in small individuals to about 100 in large adults, some bars interrupted in adults; anterior nostril pale.

Commonly grows to about 1 m in length, occasionally to 1.5 m.

Distribution and habitat. Across the entire Indo-Pacific, from the Indian Ocean including Red Sea to Hawaiian Islands, Marquesas Islands, and Central America. Occurs in shallow water and on coral reefs at depths of 1–50 m; feeds mainly on crabs, also on molluscs and sea urchins; rarely seen in the open.

Remarks. This species has sometimes been placed in Echidna because of its blunt, molariform teeth, but it is distinguished by the posterior position of the anus, well behind mid-length. There is a slight difference in the number of vertebrae between the Red Sea (127–130, N = 2) and elsewhere (129–134, N = 6). Genetic samples were not available from the Red Sea, and, as in the multigene phylogeny by Reece et al. (2010), the species does not show a close affiliation with other species of Muraeninae in the COI-based phylogeny ( Fig. 48 View FIGURE 48 ). A study on the genetic differentiation within G. zebra across the Indo-Pacific showed no marked intra-specific genetic variation in mitochondrial haplotypes ( Reece et al. 2011).

References

Clark, E., Ben-Tuvia, A. & Steinitz, H. (1968) Observations on a coastal fish community, Dahlak Archipelago, Red Sea. Report of Israel South Red Sea Expedition, 30, 15 - 31.

Dor, M. (1984) CLOFRES, Checklist of the Fishes of the Red Sea. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, 437 pp.

Fowler, H. W. (1945) The fishes of the Red Sea. Sudan Notes and Records, 26, 113 - 137.

Golani, D. & Bogorodsky, S. V. (2010) The fishes of the Red Sea-reappraisal and updated checklist. Zootaxa, 2463, 1 - 135. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 2463.1.1

Golani, D. & Fricke, R. (2018) Checklist of the Red Sea fishes with delineation of the Gulf of Suez, Gulf of Aqaba, endemism and Lessepsian migrants. Zootaxa, 4509 (1), 1 - 215.

Goren, M. & Dor, M. (1994) An updated checklist of the fishes of the Red Sea; CLOFRES II. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, XII + 120 pp.

Khalaf, M. A. & Disi, A. M. (1997) Fishes of the Gulf of Aqaba. Marine Science Station Aqaba, Jordan, 252 pp.

Khalaf, M. A. (2004) Fish fauna of the Jordanian coast, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea. Marine Science, 15, 23 - 50. https: // doi. org / 10.4197 / mar. 15 - 1.2

Klunzinger, C. B. (1871) Synopsis der Fische des Rothen Meeres. II. Theil. Verhandlungen der K. - K. zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 21, 441 - 688. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 1148

Randall, J. E. & Golani, D. (1995) Review of the moray eels (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) of the Red Sea. Bulletin of Marine Science, 56 (3), 849 - 880.

Reece, J. S., Bowen, B. W., Smith, D. G. & Larson, A. (2010) Molecular phylogenetics of moray eels (Muraenidae) demonstrates multiple origins of a shell-crushing jaw (Gymnomuraena, Echidna) and multiple colonizations of the Atlantic Ocean. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 57, 829 - 835. https: // doi. org / 10.1016 / j. ympev. 2010.07.013

Reece, J. S., Bowen, B. W., Smith, D. G. & Larson, A. (2011) Comparative phylogeography of four Indo-Pacific moray eel species (Muraenidae) reveals comparable ocean-wide genetic connectivity despite five-fold differences in available adult habitat. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 437, 269 - 277. https: // doi. org / 10.3354 / meps 09248

Shaw, G. & Nodder, F. P. (1797) The Naturalist's Miscellany, or coloured figures of natural objects; drawn and described from nature. Printed for Nodder & Co., London, unpaginated.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Gymnomuraena zebra, Dahab, Egypt. Photo by A. Ryanskiy.

FIGURE 48. Unrooted maximum likelihood phylogeny of Indo-Pacific moray eels (Muraenidae) based on partial mitochondrial COI. Branch support values were obtained by 100 bootstrapped replicates; only bootstrap values above 50 percent are shown. The scale bar represents average number of nucleotide substitutions. (A) = specimen sequenced in this study; (B) = sequence retrieved from BOLD; (C) sequence retrieved from CRIOBE; (G) = sequence retrieved from GenBank; (R) = sequence retrieved from Reece et al. (2010); (ID) = species ID re-assigned herein; (ID-H) = specimen re-assigned as of Huang et al. (2019); (SAU) = collected in Saudi Arabia; (ISR) = collected in Israel.