Turkey moray

Species Details

Details of Turkey moray will be displayed below

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Turkey moray

Common Name: Guineafowl moray, White-mouth moray, Whitemouth moray
Scientific Name: Gymnothorax meleagris
Local Name: -
Dhivehi Name: -

Animalia (Kingdom)

Chordata (Plylum)

Actinopterygii (Class)

Anguilliformes (Order)

Muraenidae (Family)

Gymnothorax (Genus)

Turkey moray's description

The turkey moray (Gymnothorax meleagris), also known as the guineafowl moray or as the white-mouth/whitemouth moray is a species of marine fish in the family Muraenidae. The turkey moray is a medium size moray which can reach a maximum length of 120 cm, but specimens usually encountered are much smaller.

Short description - Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0; Vertebrae: 127 - 132. Mouth white inside, contrasting the outer dark skin with small white spots.

Turkey moray habitat

This species most commonly occurs in coral-rich areas of lagoon and seaward reefs from depths of 1 m to at least 50 m. It prefers very shallow depth and juveniles are often found in intertidal zones (Kuiter 1998). It is often seen hunting during low tide among partly exposed reefs (Kuiter and Tonozuka 2001). Gymnothorax meleagris feeds mainly on fishes, also on crustaceans, by day and probably also at night (Hobson 1974).

Coral Reef

Turkey moray threats

While this species is utilized, it is not thought to be exploited at any threatening level, nor is it believed to have any major threats.