Gymnothorax mordax, California moray : fisheries, aquarium

Gymnothorax mordax (Ayres, 1859)

California moray
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Gymnothorax mordax   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Gymnothorax mordax (California moray)
Gymnothorax mordax
Picture by Gotshall, D.W.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Muraenidae (Moray eels) > Muraeninae
Etymology: Gymnothorax: Greek, gymnos = naked + Greek, thorax, -akos = breast (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Ayres.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 1 - 40 m (Ref. 35581). Subtropical; 34°N - 2°S, 121°W - 90°W (Ref. 96339)

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Pacific: Point Conception in California, USA to southern Baja California in Mexico. Also known from the Galapagos Islands (Ref. 35581).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 152 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2850); max. reported age: 30 years (Ref. 56049)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Vertebrae: 146 - 154.
Body shape (shape guide): eel-like.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found common among rocks; lives in crevices or holes, usually with only head protruding. Very common in shallow reef areas (Ref. 35581). Feed mostly at night on crustaceans, octopuses and small fishes. Long-lived. Pelagic spawners (Ref. 56049).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous. Pelagic spawner (Ref. 56049).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p. (Ref. 2850)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 18 August 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
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Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
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Occurrences
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BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
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Physiology
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Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
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Visual pigments
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Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
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Human related
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Aquaculture profiles
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Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
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References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index
(Ref. 82804) 		PD50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.00047 (0.00025 - 0.00088), b=3.28 (3.12 - 3.44), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		4.5   ±0.8 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tmax=30).
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Very high vulnerability (77 of 100). 🛈
Price category
(Ref. 80766) 		Medium.