Abstract
A new identification of Gymnothorax minor (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846) is documented based on morphological characteristics and DNA barcoding. Sixty-one individuals of G. minor were collected from the East China Sea and the South China Sea. This species was previously reported as Gymnothorax reticularis Bloch, 1795 in China because of the similarity in external shape and color. Gymnothorax minor can be easily distinguished from G. reticularis by its color pattern of 18–20 irregular dark brown vertical bars and the body having scattered small brown spots. Additionally, the teeth are uniserial on both jaws, and the vertebrae number 137–139. By combining congener sequences of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene from GenBank, two groups were detected among all the COI sequences of the currently named G. minor, which further indicated that two valid species were present based on genetic distance. A divergence also occurred on the number of vertebrae between the northern and southern populations. The phylogenetic and morphological analysis strongly supports that the northern and southern populations of G. minor are two different species. Furthermore, the distribution area of the northern G. minor has expanded southward to 5°15'N in the South China Sea. More specimens of G. minor and G. reticularis are crucial in order to define their geographical distribution boundaries and provide the correct DNA barcoding.
Highlights
Moray eels are distributed in the subtropical and tropical seas, which are not well studied because of their cryptic habitats and occasionally aggressive behaviors
One objective of this study is to report the species of G. minor as the new identification with its new distribution in China; the other is to describe this species based on morphological characteristics and DNA barcoding, and to correct the current cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequences of this species released in GenBank
Counts and measurements from 61 individuals of G. minor were conducted and the generally morphological characteristics of this species are presented in Figure 1 and Table 1
Summary
Moray eels are distributed in the subtropical and tropical seas, which are not well studied because of their cryptic habitats and occasionally aggressive behaviors. The Chinese name “Wang Wen Luo Xiong Shan” was assigned to the species “Gymnothorax reticularis”, which has been persistently confused with G. minor (Zhu et al 1962, 1985, Cheng and Zheng 1987, Zhang et al 2010, Chen and Zhang 2015) Both species can be distinguished by the number of vertebrae and their differing distribution ranges: the vertebrae number 129–143 in G. minor vs 114–126 in G. reticularis; G. minor is found from the northwestern to the southwestern Pacific vs G. reticularis from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea (Smith and Böhlke 1997, Kim et al 2012). We have 61 individuals of G. minor found from the East China Sea and the South China Sea
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