Seen at Fernando de Nornoha, Brazil at about 8 meters. This blue/gray-polka-dotted moray eel with its vivid blue "horns" is quite small, with a face about 3.5 cm in diameter. Does anybody know what it's called?
Little moray
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I think it's a juvenile Honeycomb (aka black ear) moray (Muraena melanotis). Your eel looks very similar to the main Muraena melanotis photo shown on page 75 of Helmut Debelius's Mediterranean and Atlantic Fish Guide.
OP
Thanks, Vie. I've been told by members of a Brazilian discussion board that it's a juvenile Muraena pavonina. Its distribution is quite limited: in the southwest Atlantic, it is seen around the islands of Fernando de Noronha (where I saw it) and in the eastern Atlantic at Ascension Island (which is at about the same latitude as FN).
I wasn't able to identify it from web images since the adult looks very different in terms of coloration and the size of the horns. For what it's worth one common name in English is apparently "Flagged moray" and another is "Whitespot moray." Does Debelius list this species in the Med-Atlantic book? If so, is there a photo of the juvenile?
I wasn't able to identify it from web images since the adult looks very different in terms of coloration and the size of the horns. For what it's worth one common name in English is apparently "Flagged moray" and another is "Whitespot moray." Does Debelius list this species in the Med-Atlantic book? If so, is there a photo of the juvenile?
Hi Marcia,
The Debelius book does not include Muraena pavonina. I suspect (after looking at FishBase) that Muraena pavonina is probably the correct ID - in fact the main photo for Muraena melanotis in the Debelius book is probably in fact a Muraena pavonina! I guess it's easy to confuse Muraena pavonina and Muraena melanotis as both have somewhat similar markings and the prominent black "ear spot."
I should have known better than to try to ID a fish from outside of my area.
The Debelius book does not include Muraena pavonina. I suspect (after looking at FishBase) that Muraena pavonina is probably the correct ID - in fact the main photo for Muraena melanotis in the Debelius book is probably in fact a Muraena pavonina! I guess it's easy to confuse Muraena pavonina and Muraena melanotis as both have somewhat similar markings and the prominent black "ear spot."
I should have known better than to try to ID a fish from outside of my area.
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