Uropterygius genie Randall & Golani 1995

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 : 66

Uropterygius genie Randall & Golani 1995 —Genie’s Snakemoray

( Figure 43A )

Uropterygius genie Randall & Golani 1995: 872 , figs. 7–9 (Ras Muhammad, Sinai Peninsula, Red Sea). Holotype, HUJ 5863. — Golani & Bogorodsky 2010: 11; Golani & Fricke 2018: 23.

Red Sea material. Egypt: HUJ 5863 (1, 178, holotype), Ras Muhammad ; USNM 312814 (1, 118, paratype), bay at El Himeira .

Description. In TL: preanal length 2.2, head length 9.4–9.7, body depth at anus 23–24. In head length: snout length 7.9–8.5, eye diameter 8.8–9.6, upper-jaw length 2.7. Pores: LL 1, SO 3, IO 4, POM 6. Vertebrae: predorsal 102–105, pre-anus 52–54, pre-anal fin 111–114, total 121–122.

Body moderate; anus before midlength; gill opening above mid-side. Snout moderate, jaws about equal length. Eye moderate, closer to tip of snout than to rictus. Anterior nostril tubular; posterior nostril above anterior half of eye.

Teeth multiserial, conical, slender, and smooth, the inner teeth larger. Intermaxillary and maxillary teeth continuous, in about 4 rows. Median intermaxillary teeth 4. Dentary teeth in 4 series anteriorly, the inner teeth larger, becoming uniserial posteriorly. Vomerine teeth needle-like, 6 subequal teeth in a single row.

Color: uniform medium brown, fins yellowish brown, head pores and nostrils white, inside of mouth white.

Maximum size at least 178 mm.

Distribution and habitat. Known from the Red Sea, in shallow water. At present known from two specimens only, the holotype from Ras Mohammed at the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula and the paratype from the bay at El Himeira, Gulf of Aqaba. The paratype was collected from a coastal reef from a depth given as 0– 18 m.

Remarks. Although this species is known only from the Red Sea, similar small, brown Uropterygius with multiserial teeth have recently been found at scattered locations in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific. Further study is needed to determine their relationship to each other and to Uropterygius genie . Uroptergygius fuscoguttatus Schultz and U. supraforatus (Regan) also have multiserial dentition, but they are larger and have distinctive color patterns. No tissue samples or COI sequences are available for analyzing the phylogenetic relationships of this species.

Figures

FIGURE 43. A: Uropterygius genie, HUJ 5863, preserved holotype, 178 mm TL, Ras Muhammad, Egypt. B: Uropterygius golanii, HUJ 5266, preserved paratype, 426 mm TL, Strait of Jubal, Egypt. Photos by D. Golani.