Gymnothorax melatremus, the blackspot moray, dirty yellow moray or dwarf moray, is a moray eel from the Indo-Pacific East Africa to the Marquesas and Mangaréva, north to the Hawaiian Islands, south to the Australs islands. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade but still being rare to find.
| Gymnothorax melatremus | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Anguilliformes |
| Family: | Muraenidae |
| Genus: | Gymnothorax |
| Species: | G. melatremus
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| Binomial name | |
| Gymnothorax melatremus L. P. Schultz, 1953
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Body characteristics
editOrigin of dorsal fin about midway between gill opening and corner of mouth. Small and stout teeth without canines, single row of teeth at front of upper jaw with 1-2 median teeth, teeth in two rows on each side of upper jaw, longer and more slender teeth in the inner row, larger teeth at front of lower jaw. It grows to 26 cm in length. They vary in colors from golden, yellow, white colors throughout their bodies and black spots in their gill openings and deep blue in their eyes.
Diet
editLike other moray eels, Gymnothorax melatremus is carnivorous. In the wild, it feeds on any crustaceans and small fish it can catch for example: ghost shrimp, dead squid, firefish, jawfish & etc.
Aquarium Diet
editthis moray eel is part of the aquarium hobby and you can feed it: Dead fishes, chopped cephalopods and small shrimp.
Behaviour
editThey are mostly peaceful but they are still morays so they will attack vulnerable species like small bottom feeders and other types of small fishes. When scared or in danger it will attack and their bite can cause infections. They are mostly nocturnal so at day time its very hard to find.
In small places they will get nervous and will be more alert to movements and prey.
Aquarium Care
edit| Minimum tank size | 55 gallons |
| Minimum group size | 1 |
| Temperature | 72-78 ºF 22-25 ºC |
| Salinity | 1.020-1.025 |
| pH | 8.1-8.4 |
| Difficulty level | Intermediate-expert |
References
edit- ^ Smith, D.G.; McCosker, J.; Tighe, K. (2019). "Gymnothorax melatremus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T195753A2412691. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T195753A2412691.en. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
https://fantaseaaquariums.com/fishes-care/golden-dwarf-moray-eel-care/
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