Lesser moray eel

A marine fish belonging to the family Moray eel of the order Anguilliformes of the class Osteichthyes. It is found along the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan south of Niigata Prefecture, along the Pacific coast south of Chiba Prefecture, along the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula, the East China Sea, the coast of Taiwan, the South China Sea, and along the east and northwest coasts of Australia. Its body is long and slender, with a slightly laterally compressed trunk (body) and a bulging throat. Its tail is significantly laterally compressed and thin. Its anus is located almost in the center of its body. Its gill openings are small and roughly the size of its eye. Its snout is blunt and round. Its posterior nostrils have no nasal tubes. Its upper and lower jaws are almost the same length, or its upper jaw is slightly longer. It has no teeth in the center of its premaxilla. It has a row of laterally compressed canine-like teeth on both jaws, some of which are loosely articulated with the jaw bones, so it can be toppled by holding it down. The front teeth have small serrations on the incisal edge. The vomer teeth (the teeth on the frontmost bone of the skull floor) are arranged in a single row starting near the rear edge of the eye. It has no scales. The dorsal, anal and caudal fins are normally developed, but it has no pectoral fins. The body is yellowish-brown with brown spots and 15 to 22 horizontal bands of the same color. It lives on sandy and muddy bottoms at depths of less than 100 meters, and is caught with bottom trawls. It can reach a maximum total length of about 60 centimeters, but most are 45 to 50 centimeters long. It is not eaten.

[Hirotoshi Asano and Kunio Amagaoka February 18, 2019]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

硬骨魚綱ウナギ目ウツボ科に属する海水魚。新潟県以南の日本海沿岸、千葉県以南の太平洋沿岸、朝鮮半島南岸、東シナ海、台湾沿岸、南シナ海、オーストラリア東岸と北西岸などに分布する。体は細長く、躯幹(くかん)部（胴部）ではやや側扁(そくへん)し、喉部(こうぶ)は膨らむ。尾部は著しく側扁し、細い。肛門(こうもん)は体のほとんど中央部に位置する。鰓孔(さいこう)は小さく、およそ眼径大。吻(ふん)は鈍くて丸い。後鼻孔(こうびこう)には鼻管がない。上下両顎(りょうがく)はほとんど同長か上顎がわずかに長い。前上顎骨の中央部に歯がない。両顎には側扁した犬歯状の歯が1列に並び、一部の歯は顎骨と緩く関節しているため、押さえると倒すことができる。前方の歯の切縁(せつえん)に小鋸歯(きょし)がある。鋤骨歯(じょこつし)（頭蓋(とうがい)床の最前端の骨にある歯）は目の後縁付近の位置から始まり、1列に並ぶ。鱗(うろこ)がない。背びれ、臀(しり)びれおよび尾びれは普通に発達するが、胸びれはない。体色は黄褐色の地に、褐色の斑点(はんてん)と15～22条の同色の横帯がある。水深100メートル以浅の砂泥底にすみ、底引網でとれる。最大全長は約60センチメートルに達するが、45～50センチメートルのものが多い。食用にはされていない。

［浅野博利・尼岡邦夫　2019年2月18日］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例