Gymnothorax baranesi Smith, Brokovich & Einbinder 2008

Smith, David G., Bogorodsky, Sergey V., Mal, Ahmad O. & Alpermann, Tilman J., 2019, Review of the moray eels (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) of the Red Sea, with description of a new species, Zootaxa 4704 (1), pp. 1-87 : 19-20

Gymnothorax baranesi Smith, Brokovich & Einbinder 2008 —Barane’s Moray

( Figure 9 )

Gymnothorax baranesi Smith, Brokovich & Einbinder 2008: 63 , figs. 1–4 (Off Eilat, Israel). Holotype, HUJ 18976.— Golani & Bogorodsky 2010: 10; Golani & Fricke 2018: 20.

Gymnothorax sp .: Khalaf & Disi 1997: 40.

Red Sea material. Israel: HUJ 18976 (1, 857, holotype), Eilat ; HUJ 18975 (1, 762, paratype), Eilat; USNM 388603 (1, 828, paratype), Eilat .

Description. In TL: preanal length 2.0–2.1, predorsal length 7.9–8.1, head length 6.6–7.5, body depth at anus 14–19. In head length: snout length 4.8–5.7, eye diameter 11–13, upper -jaw length 2.5–2.6. Pores: LL 2, SO 3, IO 4, POM 6. Vertebrae: predorsal 6–7, preanal 52–55, total 137–142.

Body moderate, anus near midlength; dorsal fin begins before gill opening. Head and jaws moderate, jaws not closing completely. Eye moderate in size, over middle of upper jaw. Gill opening midlateral.Anterior nostril tubular, short, not reaching edge of lip when depressed; posterior nostril elliptical, without raised rim, over anterior part of eye.

Teeth sharp, conical to triangular, smooth. Intermaxillary with a peripheral series of 5–7 teeth on each side and 1–3 long, slender, median teeth. Maxillary teeth biserial or uniserial, the inner row with two long depressible teeth and the outer row with 14–17 smaller, triangular, retrorse teeth, continuous with peripheral intermaxillary teeth. Dentary teeth uniserial, larger anteriorly, conical to triangular. Vomer with 3–12 small teeth, in a single staggered row.

Color: brown, covered with moderate-size pale spots in approximately three rows, largest around midbody, the spots rosette-like anteriorly, irregularly rounded near end of tail; spots much smaller on head, inconspicuous or absent on snout and lower jaw; spots extending onto fins; tubular anterior nostril dark brown or black; gill opening darker than surrounding area; a narrow dark blotch at angle of jaw.

Maximum size at least 800–900 mm.

Distribution and habitat. Apparently endemic to the Red Sea, in relatively deep water, approximately 200 m, all known records from the Gulf of Aqaba.

Remarks. This species resembles Gymnothorax pharaonis n. sp. (see below) in its color pattern, but in the latter species the markings on the tail are more irregular in shape and tend to be drawn out into oblique streaks dorsally and ventrally. In addition, G. pharaonis has fewer vertebrae (122–128 vs. 137–142) and lives in shallower water. The teeth in G. baranesi are sexually dimorphic, the males having larger and fewer teeth and lacking the inner maxillary teeth. Gymnothorax baranesi was not collected during the present study and no COI sequence information was available for this species, so it could not be included in the phylogenetic analysis carried out in this study.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Gymnothorax baranesi, HUJ 18975, 762 mm TL, fresh specimen, Eilat, Israel. Photo by E. Brokovich.