Uropterygius polyspilus, Large-spotted snake moray : fisheries

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Uropterygius polyspilus (Regan, 1909)

Large-spotted snake moray
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Uropterygius polyspilus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Uropterygius polyspilus (Large-spotted snake moray)
Uropterygius polyspilus
Picture by Randall, J.E.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Muraenidae (Moray eels) > Uropterygiinae
Etymology: Uropterygius: Greek, oura = tail + Greek pterygion = little wing. Fin (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Regan.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 18 m (Ref. 58302). Tropical; 30°N - 18°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to the Hawaiian and Society islands.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 78.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 90102)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 130 - 136. Covered with large dark purplish-brown spots arranged in 2-3 irregular series on a reddish-tan background. Closely resembles Scuticaria tigrina which has dark spots of differing sizes.
Body shape (shape guide): eel-like.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Has been collected on reef flats (Ref. 37816). Benthic (Ref. 58302). Feeds on shrimps and fishes (Ref. 89972). Possibly a protogynous hermaphrodite (Ref. 32169).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Protogyny unconfirmed (Ref. 84746).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Randall, J.E. and D. Golani, 1995. Review of the moray eels (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) of the Red Sea. Bull. Mar. Sci. 56(3):849-880. (Ref. 10713)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 19 August 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of potential interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
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Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
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References

Tools

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 26.4 - 29.3, mean 28.6 °C (based on 1949 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00069 (0.00033 - 0.00146), b=3.12 (2.93 - 3.31), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (51 of 100). 🛈