Yellow-edged moray

Yellow-edged moray
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Anguilliformes
Family:	Muraenidae
Genus:	Gymnothorax
Species:	G. flavimarginatus
Binomial name
Gymnothorax flavimarginatus (Rüppell, 1830)

The yellow-edged moray, Gymnothorax flavimarginatus, is a moray eel of the family Muraenidae, found in the Indo-Pacific oceans from the Red Sea and South Africa eastward to the Tuamotus and Austral islands, north to the Ryukyu and Hawaiian islands, south to New Caledonia, and in the eastern Pacific from Costa Rica, Panama and the Galapagos Islands, at depths down to 150 m. Its length is up to 240 cm.

The yellow-edged moray is found along drop-offs in coral or rocky areas of reef flats and protected shorelines to seaward reefs. It feeds on cephalopods, fishes, and crustaceans. It most often appears on the reef after a fish has been speared during daylight. The regularity and promptness of such appearances make it clear that the yellow-edged moray is especially sensitive to stimuli emanating from an injured or stressed fish. It is eaten in some parts of the Indo-Pacific.

Coloration is yellowish, densely mottled with dark brown, with the front of the head purplish grey and the posterior margins of fins yellow-green. The eyes are reddish and the gill opening is a black blotch. Juveniles sometimes are bright yellow with brown blotches.

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References

• Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Gymnothorax flavimarginatus". FishBase. June 2006 version.