blacktail moray
Gymnothorax kolpos Böhlke & Böhlke, 1980
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.
Gymnothorax kolpos from the Gulf of Mexico
SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The blacktail moray eel (Gymnothorax kolpos) is a moray eel found in the western Atlantic Ocean. It was first named by Eugenia B. Böhlke and James E. Böhlke in 1980.
Wikipedia contributors, Blacktail moray eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:56:21.309747+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gymnothorax kolpos Böhlke & Böhlke, 1980
- Name authority
- Böhlke & Böhlke, 1980
- Common name
- blacktail 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 kolpos Böhlke & Böhlke, 1980
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 |
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.
- Böhlke, J. E., & Böhlke, E. B. (1980). The identity of the moray Gymnothorax conspersus Poey, and description of G. kolpos, n. sp., from the western Atlantic Ocean. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 132: 218–227. 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.
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:3HVD3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.