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Gymnothorax annasona Whitley, 1937

Source-backed taxonomic record

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

Gymnothorax annasona is a moray eel found in the southwest Pacific Ocean, around Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. It was described by Gilbert Percy Whitley in 1937, and is commonly known as the Lord Howe Island moray or the Lord Howe moray.

Gymnothorax annasona can grow to 55 cm (22 in) total length.

Wikipedia contributors, Gymnothorax annasona; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:41:09.219592+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Gymnothorax annasona Whitley, 1937
Name authority
Whitley, 1937
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.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. gigaclassActinopterygii
  8. superclassActinopteri
  9. classTeleostei
  10. orderAnguilliformes
  11. familyMuraenidae Rafinesque, 1815
  12. subfamilyMuraeninae Rafinesque, 1815
  13. genusGymnothorax Bloch, 1795
  14. speciesGymnothorax annasona Whitley, 1937

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Gymnothorax. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
vagrant morayGymnothorax buroensis (Bleeker, 1857)MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Gymnothorax cephalospilus Böhlke & McCosker, 2001MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
lipspot morayGymnothorax chilospilus Bleeker, 1864MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Gymnothorax chlamydatus Snyder, 1908MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
saddled morayGymnothorax conspersus Poey, 1867MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Gymnothorax cribroris Whitley, 1932MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Gymnothorax davidsmithi McCosker & Randall, 2008MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Gymnothorax elegans Bliss, 1883MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Gymnothorax enigmaticus McCosker & Randall, 1982MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
yellow-edged morayGymnothorax flavimarginatus (Rüppell, 1830)MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Gymnothorax flavoculus (Böhlke & Randall, 1996)MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Gymnothorax fuscomaculatus (Schultz, 1953)MuraenidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 172 records assigned to Muraenidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Gymnothorax flavimarginatus annasona Whitley, 1937 Whitley, 1937synonym

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.

  1. Whitley, G. P. (1937). The Middleton and Elizabeth reefs, South Pacific Ocean. Australian Zoologist, v. 8 (pt 4): 199–231, Pls. 13–17. [Fishes on pp. 214–231, Pls. 13–14.]. 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:6KVLD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.