Animal Species:Tessellate Moray, Gymnothorax favagineus Bloch & Schneider, 1801

The Tessellate Moray is grey to pale brown with black spots on the head, body and fins. The species occurs in tropical marine waters of the Indo-West Pacific.

Tessellate Moray caught at One Tree Island

Tessellate Moray caught at One Tree Island
Barry Goldman © Barry Goldman

Alternative Name/s

Coral Eel, Giraffe Eel, Honeycomb Moray, Blackspotted Moray.

Identification

The Tessellate Moray is grey to pale brown with black spots on the head, body and fins. The spots become relatively smaller as the fish grows.

Size range

The species grows to 1.8 m in length. There are unconfirmed reports of individuals up to 3 m long.

Distribution

The Tessellate Moray occurs in tropical marine waters of the Indo-West Pacific. In Australia it is known from north-western Western Australia, around the tropical north of the country and south to the central coast of New South Wales.

Distribution by collection data

Ozcam map of Tessellate Moray specimens in the Australian Museums.

What does this mean?

Habitat

The species is found in depths from 1 m to at least 50 m.

Classification

Species:
favagineus
Genus:
Gymnothorax
Family:
Muraenidae
Order:
Anguilliformes
Class:
Actinopterygii
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

References

  1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
  2. Michael, S.W. 1998. Reef Fishes. Volume 1. A Guide to Their Identification, Behaviour, and Captive Care. Microcosm. Pp. 624.
  3. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.

 


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Last Updated:

Tags fishes, ichthyology, Tessellate Moray, Gymnothorax favagineus, Muraenidae, eel, grey, pale brown, block spots, dots/spots, tropical water, Coral Eel, Giraffe Eel, Honeycomb Moray, Blackspotted Moray, > 1m, shallow water,