Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
 | 
Online Publication Date: Sep 01, 2010

The Moray Eels of the Anarchias cantonensis Group (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae), with Description of Two New Species

,
, and
Page Range: 421 – 430
DOI: 10.1643/CI-09-189
Save
Download PDF

Abstract

The broadly distributed Indo-Pacific moray eel Anarchias cantonensis (Schultz, 1943), heretofore treated as a single species, consists of three species: A. cantonensis, A. exulatus, a new species, and A. schultzi, a new species, based on geographic distribution, coloration, external morphometrics, and vertebral counts. We examined 112 specimens and determined that the true A. cantonensis is distributed throughout the eastern Indian Ocean, western Pacific, and tropical central Pacific, and has a mean vertebral formula of 91/93/104. Anarchias exulatus is distributed anti-tropically in the central and southeastern Pacific and is characterized by a unique mottling pattern and a mean vertebral formula of 100/103/114. A third species, named here as A. schultzi, is characterized by a mean vertebral formula of 96/99/109, a plain brown coloration in adult form, and is restricted geographically to Tonga, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, and the Caroline Islands. At the Tonga Islands, which reside on the edge of Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, all three species are present, but maintain their morphological distinctiveness and segregate ecologically.

  • Download PDF
Copyright: 2010 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Figure 1
Figure 1

Schematic of the dorsal view of a moray head distinguishing among three similar species complexes of the genus Anarchias. They are differentiated by the location of the dorsal head pore (indicated with arrows) relative to the eye and the posterior nostril.

Figure 2
Figure 2

Map of the Indo-Pacific with sampled localities for the three species of the Anarchias cantonensis species complex. Geological ages of reefs surrounding islands are listed with citations in text. Also presented are tectonic plate boundaries, with notable placement of Tonga Island along the edge of the Pacific plate to the east and Australian–Indian plate to the west, where all three species were sampled.

Figure 3
Figure 3

Photographs depicting different color morphs corresponding to the crisp mottling of Anarchias cantonensis (top), the lack of mottling and uniform brown color in A. schultzi (middle), and the diffuse and blurred blotches, becoming vertically oriented posteriorly in A. exulatus (bottom).

Figure 4
Figure 4

Results of the Principal Component Analysis identifying three non-overlapping groups of individuals corresponding to the three uniquely colored and geographically distributed species of Anarchias cantonensis (circles), A. schultzi (triangles), and A. exulatus (squares).

Figure 5
Figure 5

Anarchias cantonensis, USNM 115904, holotype, 156 mm TL.

Figure 6
Figure 6

Generalized tooth pattern for Anarchias cantonensis, A. exulatus, and A. schultzi, after Schultz (1943:fig. 3a). A  =  5 rows of intermaxillary teeth above black lines (outer and intermediate intermaxillary rows are continuous with outer and inner maxillary rows, respectively), B  =  single row of vomerine teeth, C  =  inner row maxillary teeth, D  =  outer row of maxillary teeth, E  =  inner and outer rows of mandibular teeth.

Figure 7
Figure 7

Juvenile spotting in A. cantonensis (USNM 257324).

Figure 8
Figure 8

Anarchias exulatus, USNM 328944, holotype, 180 mm SL.

Figure 9
Figure 9

Anarchias schultzi, USNM 334773, holotype, 148 mm SL.

Contributor Notes

1 Department of Biology, Washington University in Saint Louis, Box 1137, One Brookings Drive, Saint Louis, Missouri 63130, e-mail: jsreece@wustl.edu. Send reprint requests to this address.
2 Division of Fishes, Smithsonian Institution, Museum Support Center MRC 534, 4210 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, Maryland 20746, e-mail: smithd@si.edu
3 Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2C6, e-mail: erlingh@rom.on.ca

Associate Editor: R. E. Reis.

Received: Oct 15, 2009
Accepted: Mar 01, 2010