Eel ID information

[TapeWorm]

I am looking to find out more information about the Gymnothorax family.

Does anyone know what the difference is between a Brazilian Dragon Eel and a Mexican Dragon eel?

Besides the fact that one sells for $70 and one sells for $400

A local pet store has an eel marked as a Mexican Dragon eel, which I think, not sure, is the Jewel eel. They want $59 for it and it is around 2 feet.

The Jewel Moray does not have a black spot on it by its gills and this eel does. Thats what leads me to believe that it is more of a Brazilian Dragon, which is an Argus or Clepsydra.

Any opinions?

 

[NorthFace]

Me, being a Dragon owner, it has stumped me for years.

Any online searching, for Mexican/Brazilian Dragon, usually only brings pics of the Jeweled Moray. Even my searches, using scientific names, mixes Jeweled Morays in with what I call the Mexican/Brazilian Dragon.

I couldnt find a decent pic of a Jeweled Moray, but I'm sure you know what they look like. This is what I think of, when I personally say "Mexican Dragon or Brazilian Dragon":

 

[stevebydac]

A Mexican Dragon Eel is a Jewel Moray, Muraena lentiginosa. I tried linking to some Google pics, but the link code gets messed up here. Just Google "Muraena lentiginosa" and you'll see. Note that it doesn't have the long horns of the eel pictured in the previous post.

 

[TapeWorm]

Ok, my eel looks a lot like the Muraena lentiginosa, but it has the black spot behind the gills and has the horns.

Any ideas what it is?

 

[SW1TCH]

Can you post a pic.

 

[stevebydac]

Found out some more info for you, and please note that part of my last post is inaccurate re: Mexican Dragon (too late to edit it, site won't let me).

There is m. lentiginosa, the Jewel Moray, sometimes called the Mexican Dragon Moray or Mexican Dragon Eel. We all know what this one looks like, very common. I had one once. Great fish.

There is also m. melanotis, the Reticulated Moray or Blackear Moray, sometimes also called the Mexican Dragon. Are you confused yet?

Then there is m. retifera, which is ALSO called BOTH the Reticulated Moray and Mexican Dragon. Not sure if it is the same as m. melanotis. There is a lot of confusion.

I looked up these fish in Scott Michael's Reef Fishes Volume 1. He has 5 species in this genus listed. One is m. lentiginosa, one is m. melanotis, and then there is m. clepsydra, the Hourglass Moray. It has m. lentiginosa's very short horns, is bigger (3.9'), has a big black splotch over the gill opening, and lots of small irregular white spots on the body, not smoothly rounded spots like m. lentiginosa. Another moray, M. argus, is almost identical to m. clepsydra, except the latter has a small white area at the back of the lower jaw.

Your description seems to be of m. melanotis. The pic in his book pretty much matches the pic in NorthFace's post. The book pic shows the spots a little duller/whiter, but the face/horns/spots are a perfect match. It gets to 39.4", is from the tropical eastern Atlantic including Ascension and Cape Verde Islands, south to Angola. Most active at night, sometimes seen in the open in the day. From 3.3 to 65 ft deep. He remarks that it was sold to him as, drum roll please -- "West African Dragon Moray"!! It was a good captive, fed eagerly on live feeder fish and fresh fish flesh fed on a stick. No aggression to other morays in his tank.

He also implies that m. retifera is very similar but restricted to the Western Atlantic. It is much rarer to aquarists as it is found 49-247 ft. deep, usually on the outer continental shelf.

I don't have time, but you might want to look these up on www.fishbase.org to learn more.

 

[TapeWorm]

I figured a video is worth a thousand pictures

http://204.9.186.246/MOVIE0001.asf
http://204.9.186.246/MOVIE0002.asf

I have not been able to figure it out. He is a baby right now, but very active, he asks for food all the time.

 

[TapeWorm]

I think Muraena retifera is the closest, dont you think?

 

[stevebydac]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6716824#post6716824 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TapeWorm
I think Muraena retifera is the closest, dont you think?

That's a real beauty! Congratulations!

If Scott Michael is right, and M. retifera is so rare, you probably have M. melanotis instead. Depends on where it was caught. Who knows, they might even be the same fish but have been classified differently. That's certainly happened before.

It's definitely not any of the others I mentioned. It doesn't match their pics, and I owned a M. lentiginosa, and yours has much longer horns than mine did.

Good luck with it. Great looking animal!

 

[TapeWorm]

Thank you A friend of mine closed his LFS and just gave him to me.

I think his face is too dark to be a melanotis.

 

[stevebydac]

I'm still leaning toward M. melanotis. See if you can find a copy of Michael's book someday. The specimen in there looks a lot like yours. I only keep suggesting that because he said M. retifera is so rarely collected.

I guess you may never really know, and in a sense it really isn't important. Just consider yourself lucky that you got such a cool animal! I'm jealous!

 

[NorthFace]

Great looking specimen!

Looks just like the pic I posted earlier...what I refer to as the Brazilian Dragon or Mexican Dragon.