punctatus, Gymnothorax Bloch [M. E.] & Schneider [J. G.] 1801:526 [M. E. Blochii, Systema Ichthyologiae; ref. 471] Tranquebar [Tharangambadi], India. Syntypes: ZMB 6141 (1, stuffed), 3989 (1). Type catalog: Paepke 1999:103 [ref. 24282], Böhlke & Smith 2002:143 [ref. 26380] with 6141 as holotype. Bloch and Schneider had a variety a and variety b -- therefore syntypes. See Smith & Böhlke 2006:35 [ref. 28678] for remarks on types. •Valid as Lycodontis punctatus (Bloch & Schneider 1801) -- (Dor 1984:28 [ref. 29757]). •Valid as Gymnothorax punctatus Bloch & Schneider 1801 -- (Goren & Dor 1994:7 [ref. 25356], Randall & Golani 1995:866 [ref. 21744], Mishra et al. 1999:83 [ref. 25315], Böhlke & Smith 2002:143 [ref. 26380], Manilo & Bogorodsky 2003:S95 [ref. 27377], Smith et al. 2008:67 [ref. 29432], McCosker & Randall 2008:713 [ref. 29941], Smith 2012:26 [ref. 32155], Golani & Fricke 2018:22 [ref. 36273], Sumod et al. 2019:364 [ref. 36895], Smith et al. 2019:52 [ref. 37159], Habib & Islam 2020:Supplementary table p. 5 [ref. 38321], Nashad et al. 2020:370 [ref. 37900], Smith & Böhlke 2022:62 [ref. 39681] with question). Current status: Valid as Gymnothorax punctatus Bloch & Schneider 1801. Muraenidae: Muraeninae. Distribution: Red Sea; Indian Ocean: East Africa east to Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. Habitat: marine.