mordax, Muraena Ayres [W. O.] 1859:30 [Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Series 1) v. 2 (1858-1862); ref. 155] Cedros Island, Baja California, Mexico. No types known. Type catalog: Böhlke & Smith 2002:129 [ref. 26380]. Any types at CAS would have been lost in 1906. •Valid as Gymnothorax mordax (Ayres 1859) -- (Eschmeyer & Herald 1983:64 [ref. 9277], McCosker & Rosenblatt in Fischer et al. 1995:1310 [ref. 22830], De La Cruz Agüero et al. 1997:227 [ref. 24545], Richards & Engle 2001:181 [ref. 25759], Böhlke 2001:3 [ref. 25774], Böhlke & Smith 2002:129 [ref. 26380], Nelson et al. 2004:61 [ref. 27807], Love et al. 2005:18 [ref. 37547], Smith 2012:21 [ref. 32155], Page et al. 2013:61 [ref. 32708], Kells et al. 2016:88 [ref. 35888], Dale et al. 2021:314 [ref. 38298], Love et al. 2021:33 [ref. 39279], Page et al. 2023:52 [ref. 40505]). Current status: Valid as Gymnothorax mordax (Ayres 1859). Muraenidae: Muraeninae. Distribution: Eastern Pacific: southern California (U.S.A.) south to Baja California Sur (Mexico), including Guadalupe Island (Mexico); records from Galápagos Islands (Ecuador) and Colombia could not be confirmed. Habitat: marine.