Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) >
Ophichthidae (Snake eels) > Ophichthinae
Etymology: Ophichthus: Greek, ophis = serpent + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335). More on author: McCosker.
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 220 - 475 m (Ref. 84366). Temperate, preferred ?
Eastern Central Pacific: Hawaiian Islands.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 47.3 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 84366)
Short description
Morphology | Morphometrics
Vertebrae: 180 - 185. This moderately elongate species of Ophichthus, subgenus Coecilophis is distinguished by the following characters: tail 59-60%, head 9.6-10.1% of total length and body depth at gill opening 3.2-3.7% of TL; origin of dorsal-fin above mid pectoral fin; elongate pectoral fin, non-filamentous; posterior margin or orbit in advance of rictus; posterior nostril a hole above upper lip is covered by a flap; no lip barbels; small but conspicuous head pores, SO 1+4, IO 4+2, POM 2+5; small, conical teeth, biserial on anterior vomer and jaws; uniform gray brown in color, lighter ventrally, fins pale except anal which has a dark patch at posterior base; mean vertebral formula 15/66/182, total vertebrae 180-185 (Ref. 84366).
Benthic on fine sand or hard substrata with crevices (Ref. 58302).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Eschmeyer, W.N. (ed.), 1998. Catalog of fishes. Special Publication, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 3 vols. 2905 p. (Ref. 26282)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
More information
Common namesSynonymsMetabolismPredatorsEcotoxicologyReproductionMaturitySpawningFecundityEggsEgg development
Age/SizeGrowthLength-weightLength-lengthLength-frequenciesMorphometricsMorphologyLarvaeLarval dynamicsRecruitmentAbundance
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00151 (0.00061 - 0.00373), b=2.91 (2.70 - 3.12), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic Level (Ref.
69278): 3.9 ±0.7 se; Based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
69278): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (29 of 100) .