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INTRODUCTION
The family Muraenidae, in the order Anguilliformes, is distributed in tropical and subtropical seas, and contains 15 genera and 185 species (Nelson, 2006; Eschmeyer, 2012). Member of the family inhabit holes and crevices ranging from shallow waters to the continental shelf (Smith, 2012). Their bodies are elongated and somewhat compressed, with a reduced gill opening, and a variety of color patterns, including spots, bars, and reticulations.
A total of six species from two genena (Enchelycore pardalis, Gymnothorax albimarginatus, G. isingteena, G. kidako, G. prionodon, and G. reticularis) have been reported in Korea (Kim et al., 2005). The Korean name
“Na-mang-gom-chi” was first assigned to G. reticularis by Yamada et al. (1995). Subsequently, Choi et al. (2002) reported the first occurrence of G. reticularis in Korean waters, giving only a brief description and picture, and following the Korean name assigned by Yamada et al.
(1995). Gymnothorax reticularis has been confused with G. minor by many ichthyologists because their external shapes and colors are similar (Weber and deBeaufort, 1916; Masuda et al., 1984; Shen, 1990; Smith and Böhlke, 1997; Hatooka, 2002; Kim et al., 2005). Smith and
Böhlke (1997) then suggested that G. minor can be easily distinguished from G. reticularis by their numbers of vertebrae and their distribution ranges, i.e., the former has 129~143 vertebrae and is distributed from the north- western to the southwestern Pacific, whereas the latter has 114~126 vertebrae and is distributed from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea. Therefore, the identity of the mo- ray eel in Korean waters must be clarified based on act- ual specimen. A single specimen (469.0 mm TL) of the banded moray eel was collected from a fish trap in Geoje- do, South Sea of Korea in August, 2009. The specimen was preserved in 70% ethanol and deposited in the Ich- thyology Laboratory Collection, Pukyong National Uni- versity (PKU). Counts and measurements were made according to Böhlke (1989). Each body part was mea- sured to the nearest 0.1 mm with a digital Vernier caliper.
The vertebrae were counted from a radiograph (Hitex HA-100; Hitex Co., Tokyo, Japan). The mean vertebral formula (MVF) is expressed as the mean values for the predorsal-preanal-total counts of both species (Böhlke, 1982).
Gymnothorax minor (Temminck and Schlegel, 1846) (Korean name: Na-mang-gom-chi)
(Fig. 1, Table 1)
Muraena minor Temminck and Schlegel, 1846: 269 (type
Review of the Scientific Name and Redescription of the Banded Moray Eel, Previously Reported as Gymnothorax reticularis (Muraenidae, Anguilliformes) in Korea
By Sung Yeon Kim, Hwan Sung Ji
1,* and Jin-Koo Kim
1Genetics and Breeding Research Center, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Geoje 656-842, Korea
1Department of Marine Biology, Pukyong National University, Busan, 608-737, Korea
ABSTRACT The banded moray eel, previously reported as Gymnothorax reticularis, is redescribed based on one specimen (469.0 mm TL) collected from a fish trap in Geoje-do, South Sea, Korea. It is characterized by 19 dark brown vertical bars; 139 total vertebrae; both jaw teeth large, strong, and slightly serrated; 1 median intermaxillary tooth; small and blunt vomerine teeth. Although the banded moray eel has been reported as Gymnothorax reticularis in Korea by some ichthyologists, this study suggests that its scientific name should be changed to Gymnothorax minor based on its number of vertebrae and presence of a median intermaxillary tooth.
Key words : Redescription, Muraenidae, Gymnothorax minor, Gymnothorax reticularis, South Sea, Korea
*Corresponding author: Hwan Sung Ji Tel: 82-51-629-5927, Fax: 82-51-629-5931, E-mail: [email protected]
Accepted: December 28, 2012
http://www.fishkorea.or.kr
locality: Nagasaki, Japan)
Gymnothorax reticularis (non Bloch): Weber and deBeau- fort, 1916: 388; Masuda et al., 1984: 24; Shen, 1990:
106; Yamada et al., 1995: 79; Choi et al., 2002: 72;
Kim et al., 2005: 85; NIBR, 2011: 19.
Gymnothorax minor: Boeseman, 1947: 192; Smith and Böhlke, 1997: 177; Böhlke and McCosker, 2001: 73;
Hatooka, 2002: 205; Yamada et al., 2009: 163; Proko- fiev, 2010: 585; Tawa and Mochioka, 2009: Smith,
2012: 20.
Material examined. PKU 2698, 469.0 mm TL, one specimen, Geoje-do (N 34�43′10′′, E 128�38′25′′), South Sea of Korea, caught by fish trap at 20 m, 19 August, 2009, collected by H.S. Ji.
Description. Dorsal fin rays 331; anal fin rays 227; pre- dorsal vertebrae 6; preanal vertebrae 57; total vertebrae 139; bars behind gill opening 19.
Table 1. Comparisons of measurements, counts and morphological characters of Gymnothorax minor and Gymnothorax reticularis
Gymnothorax minor Gymnothorax minor Gymnothorax minor Gymnothorax reticularis Source
Present study Boeseman Böhlke and McCosker Böhlke and McCosker
(1947) (1997) (1997)
Total length (mm, TL) 469.0 450.0~463.0 245.0~508.0 207.0~256.0
In % of total length
Head length 12.6 11.6~11.9 10.0~15.2 12.2~15.4
Predorsal length 10.1 - - -
Preanal length 46.7 44.8~45.5 41.7~47.6 45.5~50.0
Depth at gill opening 6.4 4.9~5.0 4.6~6.3 5.6~6.3
Depth at anus 5.0 - - -
In % of Head length
Eye diameters 10.2 7.1~8.9 7.7~14.9 10.0~12.8
Snout length 12.6 14.4~15.0 12.1~20.0 12.8~17.9
Upper jaw length 32.6 29.1 27.0~43.5 28.6~43.5
Lower jaw length 30.2 - - -
Interorbital width 12.1 - - -
Gill opening length 9.2 - - -
Counts
Total vertebrae 139 135~140 129~143 114~126
Predorsal vertebrae 6 6 5~8 5~6
Preanal vertebrae 57 53~56 51~57 48~51
Number of dorsal fin rays 331 - - -
Number of anal fin rays 227 - - -
Dorsal fin origin before of gill opening before of gill opening before of gill opening before of gill opening
Teeth Stout serrate Stout serrate Stout serrate Stout serrate
Dentition Uniserial Uniserial Uniserial Uniserial
Median intermaxillary teeth 1 1 0~2 0
Bars behind gill opening 19 18~20 15~22 16~20
Fig. 1. Gymnothorax minor, PKU 2698, 469.0 mm TL, South Sea of Korea.
All counts and measurements are given in Table 1. Body elongate and somewhat compressed, and tapering toward the tail (Fig. 1). Head with many wrinkles, snout bluntly rounded, mouth terminal (Fig. 2). Nostril 2 pairs, anterior nostril narrow tubular, and posterior nostril small and oval. Cephalic pores minute; supraorbital pores 3; infraor- bital pores 4 along the upper jaw; mandibular pores 6 along the lower jaw; branchial pores 2. Both jaw teeth large, strong, and slightly serrated (Fig. 3). Maxillary teeth 15 in a single row, tapering in size posteriorly.
Mandibular teeth 14 in a single row, tapering in size posteriorly. Median intermaxillary tooth 1; vomerine teeth small blunt, 12 in a single row. Anus located in the middle of the body. Gill opening small slit (Fig. 2). Dor- sal fin origin slightly in front of the gill opening. Pectoral fin absent. Caudal fin small, confluent with dorsal and anal fins. Lateral line greatly reduced, pores inconspicu- ous. Body naked.
Coloration. When fresh, head and body light whitish, with scattered irregular dark brown spots, 19 dark brown vertical bars from behind the gill opening to the caudal fin margin. Dorsal and anal fins with 21 and 11 dark black- ish brown bars, respectively, on each side.
Distribution. South Sea of Korea (present study; Choi et al., 2002; Kim et al., 2005), northwestern and south- western Pacific (Smith and Böhlke, 1997), Japan (Hatoo- ka, 2002), China (Shen, 1990), Taiwan (Smith and Böhlke, 1997), Australia (Böhlke and McCosker, 2001), Philip- pines and Indonesia (Smith and Böhlke, 1997).
Remarks. The banded moray eel has previously been reported as Gymnothorax reticularis in the Korean waters (Choi et al., 2002; Kim et al., 2005; NIBR, 2011). How- ever, this study suggests that the banded moray eel in Korea is Gymnothorax minor, based on the following morphological characters: 15~17 irregular dark brown vertical bars, body with scattered small brown spots, and uniserial teeth on both jaws (Table 1). These characters
are highly consistent with those in the original description (Temminck and Schlegel, 1846). Boeseman (1947) sub- sequently reported a morphological description of the lectotype of G. minor, which is consistent with ours.
Because G. minor is most similar to G. reticularis in its number of dark vertical bars (18~25 in G. minor vs. 15
~22 in G. reticularis; Smith and Böhlke, 1997; Table 1), they have been confused by many ichthyologists (Weber and deBeaufort, 1916; Masuda et al., 1984; Shen, 1990;
Kim et al., 2005). However, Smith and Böhlke (1997) demonstrated that G. minor and G. reticularis clearly differ from one another in their numbers of vertebrae (129~143 and 114~126, respectively). Hatooka (2002) later added G. minor to the fish fauna of Japan, but de- leted G. reticularis. Recently, Yamada et al. (2009) mis- takenly assigned the new Korean name “Geu-mul-gom- chi” to G. minor, perhaps because they lacked informa- tion about the banded moray eel in Korea. The vertebral number in the present specimen is 139, within the range of the vertebrae of G. minor (Table 1). Gymnothorax minor and G. reticularis are also easily distinguishable by their distributions, with G. minor distributed from the northwestern to the southwestern Pacific and G. reticu- laris from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea (Randall and Golani, 1999; Smith and Böhlke, 1997; Smith, 2012).
According to Smith and Böhlke (1997), G. minor displays some geographic variation in the number of its vertebrae, e.g., 129~135 total vertebrae in Australia, but 135~143 in northeastern Asia. Therefore, further studies of the
Fig. 2. Head of Gymnothorax minor, PKU 2698, 469.0 mm TL.
Fig. 3. Tooth of Gymnothorax minor, PKU 2698, 469.0 mm TL.
Scale bar= 0.5 mm
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was financially supported by a grant from the National Fisheries Research and Development Insti- tute (RP-2012-AQ-130).
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우리나라에서 과거 Gymnothorax reticularis로 보고된 나망곰치의 학명 검토 및 재기재
김성연∙지환성1∙김진구1
국립수산과학원 육종연구센터, 1부경대학교 자원생물학과
요 약 :과거 우리나라에서 Gymnothorax reticularis로 보고되었던 나망곰치를 남해 거제도에서 통발로 채집 된 표본 1개체(전장 469.0 mm)에 근거하여 재기재하였다. 본 표본은 19개의 암갈색 수직띠, 139개의 척추골수, 크고 강하며 약간 거친 양턱니, 1개의 간상악골치, 작고 무딘 서골치를 가지는 특징을 보였다. 여러 어류학자들 에 의해 한국산 나망곰치는 Gymnothorax reticularis로 보고되어 왔으나 본 연구를 통해 한국산 나망곰치의 학 명은 Gymnothorax minor로 변경되어야 한다.
찾아보기 낱말 :재기재, 곰치과, 나망곰치, Gymnothorax reticularis, 남해
