The murénids , the family to which moray eels belong, are one of the most diverse and abundant in the world. They comprise two subfamilies, 16 genera and around 200 species, distributed mainly in tropical and temperate seas around the world.
Now a team of researchers from South Africa has discovered that the Indo-Pacific wavy moray eel ( Gymnothorax undulatus ), first described by French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1803, actually represents two genetically and morphologically distinct species. .
The scientists examined around 100 eel specimens originally identified as Gymnothorax undulatus from the western Indian Ocean. “Moray eel species differ primarily in color pattern, differences in dentition, and vertebral counts,” the authors explain.
A new species
Gymnothorax undulatus contains more than one species, according to the study. The new species has been christened Gymnothorax elaineheemstrae and can be found along the South African coast from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape.
” Gymnothorax elaineheemstrae can be differentiated from other species within the genus in the western Indian Ocean by its color pattern and vertebral count,” the researchers explain.
” It has 134-136 total vertebrae and a mottled and slightly reticulated pattern, whereas Gymnothorax undulatus has irregular rectangular spots separated by large reticulations.”
Referencia: Yonela Sithole et al. 2020. A taxonomic revision of Gymnothorax undulatus (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) in the Western Indian Ocean, with description of a new species. Zootaxa 4767 (1): 161-181; doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4767.1.7
