Common Name
Green Moray
Year Described
Ranzani, 1839
Identification
Body elongate yet robust with well developed dorsal and anal finfolds. Trunk a little shorter than tail. Head tapers anteriorly. Snout blunt. Jaw closes completely. Teeth smooth. Multiple rows of fangs in upper jaw: an outer row of small outer teeth, an inner row of larger canines, and a median row of canines. Two rows of teeth on either side of the rear upper jaw. Vomer with two rows of teeth. Lower jaw with an outer row of small pointed teeth and an inner row of larger fangs. Anterior nostril is a small tube. Rear nostril an external, slightly raised opening above anterior margin of eye. Eye large. Throat region grooved. Gill opening a simple hole. Dorsal origin well anterior to gill opening. Fins confluent around tail.
Color
Body uniformly olive-brown to green (actually bluish with yellow mucus coating) with no markings.
Size
The largest W. Atlantic moray: to 190cm TL.
Habitat
Found from 0-30m from estuaries to coral and rocky reefs. A common reef associated species.
Range
New Jersey, U.S.A. (larval strays to Nova Scotia in Gulf Stream) to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Also Bermuda.
References
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.