Geometric moray

The geometric moray
is a moray eel of the family Muraenidae found throughout the western Indian Ocean at depths to 40 m. Its length is up to 65 cm. It is parasitized by Ichthyoxenus puhi, a species of isopod.
The fish is generally pale purple, white or brownish in colour, with a greyish head with distinct lines of black dots.

Taxonomy

The geometric moray is a species of moray. The moray family is divided into two subfamilies: the snakemorays and the typical morays. This species is classified within the latter due to having a dorsal fin in parts of the body where they wouldn't be in snakemorays. Within the subfamily, G. griseus is classified within the genus Gymnothorax, which contains over half of the species in the family.

Relatives

This species' closest relative is the white-eyed moray, which shares the common feature of white eyes; and also is not found in most places that G. griseus is in. The next closest relative to these two is Castle's moray, which shares features with this species, such as having an almost identical pattern of spots, and having dots on the lateral line. More distant relatives include the False and Arabian false brown morays and the Mottled moray.