Common names: moray (English), morena (Espanol)
 
Gymnothorax porphyreus (Guichenot, 1848)

Lowfin moray

Head moderate to short (10-14% of TL); head and trunk ~ ½ TL;  snout short and broad; front nostril a short tube;  rear nostril at level of profile of head, just before front edge of eye, raised or in a short tube with a flared, wrinkled margin; mouth moderate; teeth strong, triangular, smooth, in two rows on top jaws, inner row at front of top jaw with 2-5 long canines; usually a single row of 6-12 teeth at front roof of mouth; gill opening a diagonal slit; dorsal fin low, its origin a little before gill opening.

Yellowish to grey-brown, with numerous, small (~ pupil-sized), close-set, often irregularly overlapping dark spots; nostrils and head pores dark; snout and mouth angle dark; gill opening dark but not in a black blotch; fins of small fish with pale margin or pale at rear.

Size: 130 cm.

Habitat: rocky reefs.


Depth: 1-13 m.


The southwest Pacific to the southeast Pacific (Chile) and north to southern Ecuador.