Enchelynassa canina ( Quoy & Gaimard 1824 )

Smith, David G., 2012, A checklist of the moray eels of the world (Teleostei: Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) 3474, Zootaxa 3474, pp. 1-64 : 9-10

Enchelynassa canina ( Quoy & Gaimard 1824)

Muraena canina Quoy & Gaimard 1824: 247 (Waigeo [Waigiou], Indonesia; Rawak I., Bismarck Archipelago). Syntypes, MNHN (not found).

Enchelynassa bleekeri Kaup 1855: 214 , pl. 10 (fig. 3) (Pacific Ocean). Holotype (unique), lost.

Gymnothorax vinolentus Jordan & Evermann 1903: 165 (Kailua, Hawaii I., Hawaiian Is., U.S.A). Holotype (unique), USNM 50615 .

VERTEBRAE: 6–7, 62–64, 141–147 (MVF 6, 63, 142).

DISTRIBUTION: Indo-West Pacific.

REMARKS: The original description of Muraena canina is very general and does not include any identifying characters for the species. Jordan and Seale (1906: 197) listed it as valid, with Enchelynassa bleekeri and E. vinolentus as junior synonyms, but did not explain why they adopted the name for this very distinctive species. Weber and deBeaufort (1916: 391) accepted Jordan and Seale's conclusion "notwithstanding the description of Quoy and Gaimard is insufficient." Later authors have simply followed historical convention, and the name is well established in current usage.

Genus Gymnomuraena Lacepède 1803

Gymnomuraena Lacepède 1803: 648 . Type species Gymnomuraena doliata Lacepède 1803 , by subsequent designation ( Jordan & Evermann 1896: 402). Feminine.

Gymnopsis Rafinesque 1815: 93 . Type species Gymnomuraena doliata Lacepède 1803 , by being a replacement name. Feminine.

Arndha Deraniyagala 1931: 132 . Type species Gymnothorax zebra Shaw 1797 , by original designation (also monotypic). Feminine.