Purplemouth Moray, Gymnothorax vicinus
Purplemouth Moray, Gymnothorax vicinus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Key Largo, Florida, February 2016. Length: 81 cm (2 feet 7 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
The Purplemouth Moray, Gymnothorax vicinus, is a member of the Moray and Snake Eel or Muraenidae Family, also known as the Brown Conger, and in Mexico as morena amarilla. Globally, there are one hundred sixteen members in the genus Gymnothorax, of which eighteen are found in Mexican waters, nine in the Atlantic and nine in the Pacific Ocean.
The Purplemouth Moray has and elongated body that is cylindrical anteriorly that tapers to a compressed tail. They are highly variable in color and can be either white or dark with small dark purplish brown spots covering their body. Their head has a purple cast and without spotting, a horizontal slash at the corner of the mouth and the iris of their eyes are gold; the inside of their mouth is purple for which they are named. Their anal and dorsal fins are black with a thin white margin. Juveniles are dark with a white lower jaw. Their head has an elongated and pointed snout, a large mouth that extends past the eyes that is equipped with strong smooth teeth set in rows with a set of canines at the front and very small round gill openings. Their anal and dorsal fin, which originates before the gill opening, are covered with skin and confluent with the caudal fin; they lack pectoral and pelvic fins. The tail is slightly greater than 50% of total length.
The Purplemouth Moray is a common inhabitant of shallow coral and rocky reef areas and seagrass beds and are found within cracks and crevices within the subtidal zone to depths up to 183 m (600 feet). They reach a maximum length of 1.22 m (4 feet 0 inches) and 0.75 kg (1 lb 10 oz) in weight. They are found as solitary individuals that are mobile and change locations every 30 days. During the day they take shelter backing into crevices within rocky structure with only their head protruding. Their body shape and the lack of fins, scales, or gill covers allow them to move quickly in and out of rocky crevices. They are voracious nocturnal ambush predators with poor eyesight that utilize their keen sense of smell to seek out prey. They consume crabs, fish, octopus, and shrimp and utilize “knotting to manipulate and consume prey. The Purplemouth Moray is a simultaneous hermaphrodite, possessing both male and female sex organs which allows them to self-fertilize as necessary. Reproduction is viviparous with eggs and sperm broadcast into the water generating pelagic eggs and larvae that can drift in oceanic currents for up to a year before settling out on the bottom. The Purplemouth Moray is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Purplemouth Moray is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.
The Puplemouth Morayaintspotted, due to its unique coloration, is a straightforward identification. They are very similar to the Green Moray, Gymnothorax funebris (uniform dark green; small dark eye) and the Spotted Moray, Gymnothorax moringa (eye with white iris; head heavily spotted).
From a conservation perspective, the Purplemouth Moray is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. When encountered they are visually most intimidating and are known to bite humans inflicting significant pain. They are sold on a limited basis as a food fish in some parts of their range. They are utilized by the aquarium trade at a small level.