Gymnothorax
Gymnothorax is a genus of fish in the family Muraenidae found in Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. With more than 120 species, it the most speciose genus of moray eels.
Gymnothorax as currently recognized is polyphyletic, and comparative studies are needed before action is taken to resurrect generic synonyms of Gymnothorax.
Description
Species in this genus are slender as are most eels. They grow to. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some species only grow to a maximum size of less than. Many species have complex patterns, but many others are quite bland without much coloration on their bodies. Moray eel species, inevitably applying to Gymnothorax'' owing to its high diversity, are often found in generally shallow-water habitats, but many species are also found in deep water, being more common in those environments than previously thought.Like all moray eels, they have pharyngeal jaws.
Species
Both FishBase and World Register of Marine Species recognize a total of 128 valid species in the genus. However, each database includes three species that the other does not list, which are noted in the list below.Gymnothorax afer Bloch, 1795 Gymnothorax albimarginatus Gymnothorax andamanensis Gymnothorax angusticauda Gymnothorax angusticeps Gymnothorax annasona Whitley, 1937 Gymnothorax annulatus D. G. Smith & E. B. Böhlke, 1997 Gymnothorax arabicus D. G. Smith, Bogorodsky, Dandar & Zajonz, 2024Gymnothorax atolli Gymnothorax aurocephalus Nashad, Mohapatra, Varghese & Bineesh, 2020 Gymnothorax australicola Lavenberg, 1992 Gymnothorax austrinus E. B. Böhlke & McCosker, 2001 Gymnothorax bacalladoi E. B. Böhlke & Brito, 1987 Gymnothorax baranesi D. G. Smith, Brokovich & Einbinder, 2008Gymnothorax bathyphilus J. E. Randall & McCosker, 1975 Gymnothorax berndti Snyder, 1904 Gymnothorax breedeni McCosker & J. E. Randall, 1977 Gymnothorax buroensis Gymnothorax castaneus Gymnothorax castlei E. B. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 1999 Gymnothorax cephalospilus E. B. Böhlke & McCosker, 2001 Gymnothorax chilospilus Bleeker, 1864 Gymnothorax chlamydatus Snyder, 1908 Gymnothorax cinerascens Gymnothorax conspersus [Felipe Felipe Poey y Aloy|Poey y Aloy|Poey], 1867 Gymnothorax cribroris Whitley, 1932 Gymnothorax davidsmithi McCosker & J. E. Randall, 2008 Gymnothorax dorsalis Seale, 1917Gymnothorax dovii- Gymnothorax elaineheemstrae Gymnothorax elegans Bliss, 1883 Gymnothorax emmae Prokofiev, 2010Gymnothorax enigmaticus McCosker & J. E. Randall, 1982 Gymnothorax equatorialis Gymnothorax eurostus Gymnothorax eurygnathos E. B. Böhlke, 2001Gymnothorax favagineus Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801 Gymnothorax fimbriatus Gymnothorax flavimarginatus Gymnothorax flavoculus Gymnothorax formosus Bleeker, 1864Gymnothorax funebris Ranzani, 1839 Gymnothorax fuscomaculatus Gymnothorax gracilicauda O. P. Jenkins, 1903 Gymnothorax griseus Gymnothorax hansi Heemstra, 2004Gymnothorax hepaticus Gymnothorax herrei Beebe & Tee-Van, 1933 Gymnothorax hubbsi J. E. Böhlke & E. B. Böhlke, 1977 Gymnothorax indicus Mohapatra, D. Ray, D. G. Smith & Mishra, 2016 Gymnothorax intesi Gymnothorax isingteena Gymnothorax javanicus Gymnothorax johnsoni Gymnothorax kidako Gymnothorax kolpos J. E. Böhlke & E. B. Böhlke, 1980 Gymnothorax kontodontos E. B. Böhlke, 2000 Gymnothorax longinquus Gymnothorax maderensis Gymnothorax mareei Poll, 1953 Gymnothorax margaritophorus Bleeker, 1864 Gymnothorax marshallensis Gymnothorax mccoskeri D. G. Smith & E. B. Böhlke, 1997Gymnothorax megaspilus E. B. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 1995 Gymnothorax melanosomatus K. H. Loh, K. T. Shao & H. M. Chen, 2011 Gymnothorax melatremus L. P. Schultz, 1953 Gymnothorax meleagris Gymnothorax microspila Gymnothorax microstictus E. B. Böhlke, 2000 Gymnothorax miliaris Gymnothorax minor Gymnothorax mishrai D. Ray, Mohapatra & D. G. Smith, 2015 Gymnothorax moluccensis Gymnothorax monochrous Gymnothorax monostigma Gymnothorax mordax Gymnothorax moringa Gymnothorax mucifer Snyder, 1904Gymnothorax nasuta F. de Buen, 1961 Gymnothorax neglectus S. Tanaka (I), 1911Gymnothorax nigromarginatus Gymnothorax niphostigmus H. M. Chen, K. T. Shao & C. T. Chen, 1996 Gymnothorax nubilus Gymnothorax nudivomer Gymnothorax nuttingi Snyder, 1904 Gymnothorax obesus Gymnothorax ocellatus Agassiz, 1831 Gymnothorax odishi Mohapatra, Mohanty, Smith, Mishra, and Roy, 2018
- Gymnothorax panamensis Gymnothorax parini Collette, D. G. Smith & E. B. Böhlke, 1991Gymnothorax phalarus W. A. Bussing, 1998Gymnothorax pharaonis D. G. Smith, S. V. Bogordosky, A. O. Mal, and T. J. Alpermann, 2019 Gymnothorax phasmatodes Gymnothorax philippinus D. S. Jordan & Seale, 1907 Gymnothorax pictus Gymnothorax pikei Bliss, 1883 Gymnothorax pindae J. L. B. Smith, 1962 Gymnothorax poikilospilus Chen & Huang, 2022Gymnothorax polygonius Poey, 1875 Gymnothorax polyspondylus E. B. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 2000Gymnothorax polyuranodon Gymnothorax porphyreus Gymnothorax prasinus Gymnothorax prionodon J. D. Ogilby, 1895 Gymnothorax prismodon E. B. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 2000Gymnothorax prolatus K. Sasaki & Amaoka, 1991Gymnothorax pseudoherrei E. B. Böhlke, 2000 Gymnothorax pseudokidako Huang, Loh & Liao, 2021Gymnothorax pseudomelanosomatus K. H. Loh, K. T. Shao & H. M. Chen, 2015 Gymnothorax pseudoprolatus Gymnothorax pseudothyrsoideus Gymnothorax pseudotile Mohapatra, Smith, Ray, Mishra & Mohanty, 2017 Gymnothorax punctatofasciatus Bleeker, 1863 Gymnothorax punctatus Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801 Gymnothorax randalli D. G. Smith & E. B. Böhlke, 1997 Gymnothorax reevesii Gymnothorax reticularis Bloch, 1795Gymnothorax richardsonii Gymnothorax robinsi E. B. Böhlke, 1997 Gymnothorax rueppelliae Gymnothorax ryukyuensis Hatooka, 2003Gymnothorax sagenodeta ''Gymnothorax sagmacephalus E. B. Böhlke, 1997Gymnothorax saxicola D. S. Jordan & B. M. Davis, 1891 Gymnothorax serratidens Gymnothorax shaoi H. M. Chen & K. H. Loh, 2007Gymnothorax sokotrensis Kotthaus, 1968Gymnothorax steindachneri D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1903 Gymnothorax taiwanensis H. M. Chen, K. H. Loh & K. T. Shao, 2008 Gymnothorax tamilnaduensis Kodeeswaran, Kantharajan, Mohapatra, Kumar & Sarkar 2023Gymnothorax thyrsoideus Gymnothorax tile Gymnothorax undulatus Gymnothorax unicolor Gymnothorax vagrans Gymnothorax verrilli Gymnothorax vicinus Gymnothorax vietnamensis Gymnothorax visakhaensis Mohapatra, Smith, Mohanty, Mishra & Tudu, 2017Gymnothorax walvisensis Prokofiev, 2009Gymnothorax woodwardi McCulloch, 1912Gymnothorax ypsilon Hatooka & J. E. Randall, 1992 Gymnothorax zonipectis'' Seale, 1906