Lipspot moray
Gymnothorax chilospilus
- Usual depth1–20 m
- Water temperature22–29 °C
- Best monthsApril
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The lipspot moray eel, also known as the textile moray, white-lipped moray or white-lipped reef eel, is a moray eel found in coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It was first named by Pieter Bleeker in 1864.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Lipspot moray eel”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 39 records
- February: 62 records
- March: 54 records
- April: 177 records
- May: 92 records
- June: 35 records
- July: 33 records
- August: 32 records
- September: 58 records
- October: 64 records
- November: 87 records
- December: 35 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–20 m · Deepest record: 50 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 22–29 °C
Photos
(c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Pierre Pericard, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Jay Paroline, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Alexander Regio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Lipspot moray, lipspot moray, Lip-spot moray, Lipspot Moray, Textile Moray, Whitelip Moray, Whitelip Moray Eel, White-lipped Reef-eel
Names in 5 more languages
- Spanish
- Morena de labios blancos
- Filipino
- Malibanos
- French
- Murène à lèvres tachetées
- Japanese
- Minamiutsubo, ミナミウツボ
- Simplified Chinese
- 云纹裸胸鳝, 唇斑裸胸鯙, 粉鰻, 糬鰻, 薯鰻, 虎鰻, 錢鰻, 雲紋裸胸鯙, 雲紋裸胸鱔
Other scientific names: Lycodontis chilospilos, Lycodontis chilospilus
Similar species
Fimbriated morayGymnothorax fimbriatus
Blackspot MorayGymnothorax melatremus
Barred-fin MorayGymnothorax zonipectis
- Vagrant moray
Gymnothorax buroensis
- Abbott's Moray
Gymnothorax eurostus
- Laced moray
Gymnothorax favagineus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 874 open-data records from 1864 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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