Dark-shouldered snake eel
Dark-shouldered snake eel | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Anguilliformes |
Family: | Ophichthidae |
Genus: | Ophichthus |
Species: | O. cephalozona
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Binomial name | |
Ophichthus cephalozona Bleeker, 1864
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Synonyms[1] | |
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The dark-shouldered snake eel (Ophichthus cephalozona, also known commonly as the headsaddle snake eel, the black-neck snake eel, the blacksaddle snake eel, or the one-banded snake-eel[2]) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels).[3] It was described by Pieter Bleeker in 1864.[4] It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the Pacific Ocean, including the East Indies, the Society Islands, the Mariana Islands, Queensland, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Japan, and India. It dwells at a depth range of 2–15 metres, and inhabits reefs. It forms burrows in mud and sand, and forages during the night. Males can reach a maximum total length of 115 centimetres.[3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/2019_Ophichthus_cephalozona_-_Lembeh_Strait_-_by_2eight_-_ZSC9014.jpg/150px-2019_Ophichthus_cephalozona_-_Lembeh_Strait_-_by_2eight_-_ZSC9014.jpg)
The dark-shouldered snake eel is of no commercial interest to fisheries, but is sometimes caught in nets in the Ryukyu Islands.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Synonyms of Ophichthus cephalozona at www.fishbase.org.
- ^ Common names for Ophichthus cephalozona at www.fishbase.org.
- ^ a b c Ophichthus cephalozona at www.fishbase.org.
- ^ Bleeker, P., 1864-65 [ref. 4860] Atlas ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises, publié sous les auspices du Gouvernement colonial néêrlandaises. Tome IV. Murènes, Synbranches, Leptocéphales. v. 4: 1-150, Pls. 145-193.
External links
[edit]Media related to Dark-shouldered snake eel at Wikimedia Commons
- Photos of Dark-shouldered snake eel on Sealife Collection