Gymnothorax miliaris
Goldentail Moray
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Anguilliformes (True Eels)
Muraenidae (Morays)
Gymnothorax
Gymnothorax miliaris (Goldentail Moray)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (Carpenter, K.E. (ed.) 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. FAO, Rome.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
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Synonymy
Lycodontis miliaris (Kaup, 1856) / Muraena flavopicta (Kaup,
1856); Muraena miliaris (Kaup, 1856).
Characters
Body stout, tail not tapering but rounded at tip; anus shortly be fore midbody.
Head moderate. Eye above jaw, closer to rictus than to snout tip; posterior nostril with raised rim, above an-
terior margin of eye. Snout short; jaws short, closing completely. Teeth smooth, short, and stout, no very long
canines; intermaxillary teeth numerous, 5 rows across, 2 to 5 median teeth; maxillary teeth biserial;
vomerine teeth uniserial. Dorsal fin beginning on head between corner of mouth and gill opening. Colour:
highly variable colour pattern; common pattern for young and most adults over all dark background with scat-
tered sm all pale spots or dots; some large individuals with over all pale background with dark
reticulations, or with pale background with very few, highly irregular, dark spots and blotches; the pat-
tern similar on all parts of eel; tail tip always pale. Pale areas cream to golden yellow in life, dark areas brown
to purplish.
Body shape: eel-like. Dark brown with numerous yellow dots, smallest on head and largest toward end of tail where they are irregular and confluent (Ref. 13442). Stout moray with a short blunt snout. Tip of tail always pale, usually deep yellow in life. Posterior nostril in short tube (Ref. 26938).
Distribution
An insular species, widespread in
the Atlantic; from Bermuda, the Bahamas, the
Florida Keys, throughout the isl ands of the Ca-
ribbean, off coastal Mexico, and central and
nor thern South America. Also, taken off isl ands
of the eastern central and sou theastern Atlantic
(Areas 34, 47), and off Brazil (Area 41).
Habitat Associations
A common inhabitant of coral reefs and rocky shorelines, but seldom seen;
taken at depths to 50 m.
Biology
Maximum 55 cm.
A benthic and solitary species (Ref. 26340) inhabiting coral reefs and rocky shorelines. Usually at depths of 60 m (Ref. 26938). One of the most common and easily recognized morays of the West Indian reefs, active during the day and sometimes hunting together with other predators (Ref. 42064). This species has been called Muraena miliaris (Ref. 26938).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; nonguarders. Oviparous (Ref. 35581).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-08-17. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Large specimens occa-
sion ally caught by trawl, trap, and hook-and-line. Possibly consumed loc ally; of no commercial im-
portance.
References
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea and W.B. Scott (1991) Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. Am. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. (20):183 p.
Smith, D.G. and E.B. Böhlke (1990) Muraenidae. p. 136-148. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Charter, S.R. and H.G. Moser (1996) Muraenidae: morays. p. 88-91. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. 1505 p.
da Silva Monteiro, V.M. (1998) Peixes de Cabo Verde. Ministério do Mar, Gabinete do Secretário de Estado da Cultura. M2-Artes Gráficas, Lda., Lisbon. 179p.
Comments On Gymnothorax miliaris