Freshwater morey, Gymnothorax tile (Hamilton, 1822)

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Anguilliformes (Eels)
Family: Muraenidae (Moray eels)
Subfamily: Muraeninae
Genus: Gymnothorax
Species: G. tile

Synonyms
Lycodontis tile (Hamilton, 1822)
Muraena tile (Hamilton, 1822)
Muraenophis tile Hamilton, 1822

Distributions: Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005); India, the East Indies, the Philippines and Hawaii (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Conservation status: Not threatened in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).

Morphology: Body elongate with cylindrical anterior and compressed posterior part. Eyes rather small and eyes very sharp with about 122 vertebrae (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Narrow gill opening and with tubular nostrils. Dorsal fin originates above head, continuous around tail (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).

Body color brown-yellow to greenish, lighter below. Body with small white spots or marks which may absent in adults (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).

Maximum length: 60 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005; Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Habitats: Estuaries and river mouths (Rahman, 1989 and 2005; Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Common in the Hooghly estuary (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

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REFERENCES

Hamilton F (1822) An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches. Edinburgh & London. An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches.: i-vii + 1-405, Pls. 1-39.

IUCN Bangladesh (2000) Red book of threatened fishes of Bangladesh, IUCN- The world conservation union. xii+116 pp.

Rahman AKA (1989) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 1st edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, p. 42.

Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2^nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, p. 57.

Talwar PK and Jhingran AG (1991) Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent Countries, Vol. 1, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi-Calcutta, pp. 79.

 

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