Common Name
Chestnut Moray
Year Described
Böhlke & Böhlke, 1976
Identification
Body elongate and robust with well developed dorsal and anal finfolds. Trunk a little shorter than tail. Head tapers anteriorly to slender, hooked upper and lower jaws. Teeth obvious and visible in mouth. Multiple rows of fangs: a row of large fangs and a row of outer smaller fangs in upper jaw and two rows of fangs in lower jaw. A median row of depressible fangs on midline of roof of mouth. Anterior nostril is a small tube. Rear nostril an external groove above anterior margin of eye. Eye large. Throat region grooved. Gill opening a simple hole at level of dorsal origin. Fins confluent around tail.
Color
Body and head chocolate brown with no spots or markings. Head slightly paler brown. Throat grooves darker brown. Fins body colored. Head and jaw pores white and contrast greatly with head color. Eye with concentric rings of lavender, brown, and yellow.
Size
Maximum size to 34cm TL.
Habitat
Inhabits coral and rocky reefs from 1-54m. Most common in shallower water.
Range
Southern Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, to eastern Brazil. Also Bermuda.
References
Böhlke, J.E. & E.B. Böhlke. 1975. The chestnut moray, Enchelycore carychroa, a new species from the West Atlantic. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 137-146.
Böhlke, E.B. 2002. Muraenidae (pp 700-718). In: Carpenter. 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 32: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guides for Fisheries Purposes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5.