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

Gymnomuraena zebra ( Shaw 1797) —Zebra Moray

( Figure 7 )

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

Muraena zebra: Klunzinger, 1871: 620 .

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

Gymnomuraena zebra: Khalaf 2004: 37 ; 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 (1, 362) ; USNM 312169 (1, 370) . Indonesia, Sumatra: BMNH 1977.4 .22.4 (1, 732, holotype). Hawaii: USNM 108807 (1, 499) ; USNM 402389 (1, 663) . Panama: USNM 318328 (1, 386) ; USNM 361595 (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 ). 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).

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.