Gymnothorax javanicus, Giant moray : fisheries, aquarium

You can sponsor this page

Gymnothorax javanicus (Bleeker, 1859)

Giant moray
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Gymnothorax javanicus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Videos | Google image
Image of Gymnothorax javanicus (Giant moray)
Gymnothorax javanicus
Picture by Patzner, R.

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: Bleeker.

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

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 50 m (Ref. 30573). Tropical; 30°N - 25°S

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

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa (Ref. 33390) to the Marquesas and Oeno Atoll (Pitcairn Group), north to the Ryukyu and Hawaiian islands, south to New Caledonia and the Austral Islands.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 300 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9710); max. published weight: 30.0 kg (Ref. 30404)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Vertebrae: 137 - 143. Juveniles are tan with numerous large black spots. Adults have black specks that grade into leopard-like spots behind the head and a black area surrounding the gill opening.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in lagoon and seaward reefs. Commonly seen species along deep drop-offs and slopes in Indonesian waters (Ref. 48635). Benthic (Ref. 58302). Juveniles more secretive and occur on intertidal reef flats (Ref. 37816). It feeds primarily on fishes and occasionally on crustaceans. This is the largest Indo-Pacific moray eel (Ref. 30404), perhaps reaching 3 m in length. Because of its position at the top of the reef's food chain it is often ciguatoxic. Attacks humans when provoked (Ref. 3132). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 10713. Solitary in reef holes (Ref 90102).

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

Observations on prespawning behavior include a pair entwined around one another lying on the bottom of the reef area (Ref. 93344).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Chen, H.-M., K.-T. Shao and C.T. Chen, 1994. A review of the muraenid eels (Family Muraenidae) from Taiwan with descriptions of twelve new records. Zool. Stud. 33(1):44-64. (Ref. 6934)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 17 August 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

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

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

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

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 25.5 - 29, mean 28.1 °C (based on 902 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00052 (0.00033 - 0.00084), b=3.27 (3.14 - 3.40), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.9   ±0.64 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Fec = 200,000-300,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 13.9 [6.4, 22.6] mg/100g; Iron = 0.337 [0.184, 0.805] mg/100g; Protein = 18.8 [16.5, 21.5] %; Omega3 = 0.0798 [, ] g/100g; Selenium = 66.2 [30.4, 144.6] μg/100g; VitaminA = 33.1 [8.1, 132.9] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.763 [0.513, 1.122] mg/100g (wet weight);