green moray
Gymnothorax funebris Ranzani, 1839
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The green moray (Gymnothorax funebris) is a moray eel of the family Muraenidae, found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Long Island, New York, to Bermuda, to the northern Gulf of Mexico and to Brazil, at depths down to 40 m (130 ft). With a length up to 2.5 m (8.2 ft), it is the largest moray species of the tropical Atlantic and one of the largest species of moray eels known. The common name "green moray" is also sometimes used to refer to the yellow moray, G. prasinus. Its green colour comes from a protective layer of mucus secreted by its specialized goblet cells, much like other species of morays. Underneath this mucus layer, the green moray eel is a darker color as can be seen in preserved specimens. Green morays are typically not eaten and can cause ciguatera fish poisoning. Though the green moray is not considered endangered, moray eels in general are understudied and often undercounted by traditional visual surveys.
Wikipedia contributors, Green moray; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:54:14.705514+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gymnothorax funebris Ranzani, 1839
- Name authority
- Ranzani, 1839
- Common name
- green moray
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Muraenidae
- Genus
- Gymnothorax
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAnguilliformes
- familyMuraenidae Rafinesque, 1815
- subfamilyMuraeninae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusGymnothorax Bloch, 1795
- speciesGymnothorax funebris Ranzani, 1839
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gymnothorax. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| vagrant morayGymnothorax buroensis (Bleeker, 1857) | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnothorax cephalospilus Böhlke & McCosker, 2001 | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| lipspot morayGymnothorax chilospilus Bleeker, 1864 | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnothorax chlamydatus Snyder, 1908 | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| saddled morayGymnothorax conspersus Poey, 1867 | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnothorax cribroris Whitley, 1932 | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnothorax davidsmithi McCosker & Randall, 2008 | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnothorax elegans Bliss, 1883 | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnothorax enigmaticus McCosker & Randall, 1982 | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| yellow-edged morayGymnothorax flavimarginatus (Rüppell, 1830) | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnothorax flavoculus (Böhlke & Randall, 1996) | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnothorax fuscomaculatus (Schultz, 1953) | MuraenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Lycodontis funebris (Ranzani, 1839) (Ranzani, 1839) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Ranzani, C. (1839). De novis speciebus piscium. Dissertatio prima. Novi Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Instituti Bononiensis, v. 4 [1840]: 65–83, Pls. 8–13. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3HVCB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.