What is this?? (pic inside)

[KidK9]

Hey all, could I please get a scientific name as well as a common name on this guy? Taken in Turks and Caicos.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=124937

I'm looking for the info in the Eagle Ray, the Stingray, the Eel, the crab, and the yellow tube coral.

Thank you so much for the help to straighten my records!

 

[Brandon]

Spotted Eagle Ray is a Aetobatus narinari.

Your stingray looks like a Southern Stingray, Dasyatis americana.

I -think- the eel is a moray eel of some type, possibly a reticulate moray, Muraena retifera. Lots of different eels, and a little tough to tell from that picture exactly what kind he might be.

Hope that helps some, I'm far from a biologist of any sort.

-Brandon.

 

[KidK9]

Thank you so much, I recently just found the Eagle Ray in a book. Keeep 'em coming!

 

[KidK9]

I'm trying to decide on the eel if it is a reticulate or a spotted.

 

[TheRedHead]

I'll dissent on the eel and say Spotted Moray, Gymnothorax moringa. I think the yellow tubes are the Yellow Tube Sponge, Aplysina fistularis.

But I'm not a biologist either.

 

[Brandon]

Spotted moray does seem to be a closer match... a google image search of Gymnothorax moringa turns up some critters that look incredibly similar:

http://images.google.com/images?q=G...-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N&tab=wi

 

[archman]

I've had that crab in an aquarium before, but I forgot what it is. From the photo, I'd hazard a dromiid-type first, majid-type second. The Humann guide's not real helpful when it comes to either of these families.

 

[TheRedHead]

I agonize over my eel photos. Morays are one of my favorite critters. Humann's guide is confusing on the Reticulate Moray because it talks about nostril tubes and I know I have seen nostril tubes on other eels including the Spotted Moray. I'm probably totally wrong and I welcome elucidation, but I think the Reticulate is somewhat rare and hard to spot. I think I have seen one in Bonaire. I think the basic difference is that the Reticulate has a dark base color and light spots while the Spotted has a light base color and dark spots.

Humann states that Reticulates have not been reported in the Northern Caribbean and on that alone, I would rule it out.

But again, I'm just an ordinary diver.

 

[KidK9]

I agree with you redhatmama, I went with spotted moray on that one.

 

[archman]

Humann states that Reticulates have not been reported in the Northern Caribbean and on that alone, I would rule it out.

As many ichthyologists will attest, the Humann guide is far from the last word on fish distributions. And it's only as useful as its last publication date. Geographic range extensions change more than any other generic ecological characteristic. Don't rule out the eel for this reason.