Angry worm eel

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Angry worm eel
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Ophichthidae
Genus: Skythrenchelys
Species:
S. zabra
Binomial name
Skythrenchelys zabra
Castle & McCosker, 1999

The angry worm eel [1] (Skythrenchelys zabra) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). [2] It was described by Peter Henry John Castle and John E. McCosker in 1999. [3] It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the eastern Indian and western central Pacific Ocean, including India, Indonesia, the Straits of Malacca, northern Australia, and the Philippines. [2] [4] It is known to inhabit shallow, turbid estuaries, and to a lesser extent the deeper water over soft substrates. [4] Males can reach a maximum total length of 29.6 centimetres. [2]

The species epithet "zabra" refers to the eel's ability to consume large prey. [2] Due to its wide distribution and variety of habitats, the IUCN redlist currently lists the angry worm eel as Least Concern. [4]

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Skythrenchelys is a genus of eels in the snake eel family Ophichthidae.

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The Sailfin snake-eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John E. McCosker in 1974. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 17 metres, and inhabits sand sediments. Males can reach a maximum total length of 31 centimetres (12 in).

The longfin spotted snake eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John E. McCosker and Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt in 1993. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama, in the eastern central Pacific Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 44 to 64 metres, and inhabits sandy substrates. Males can reach a maximum total length of 51 centimetres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highfin snake eel</span> Species of fish

The highfin snake eel (Ophichthus altipennis, also known as the blackfin snake eel or the black-finned snake eel, is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Johann Jakob Kaup in 1856, originally under the genus Microdonophis. It is a marine, tropical eel known from the eastern Indian Ocean and northwestern and western central Pacific Ocean, including Australia, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Japan, the Marshall Islands, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 40 m, and forms burrows in soft inshore sand sediments. Males can reach a maximum total length of 103 cm.

The thin snake eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John E. McCosker and Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt in 1998. It is a marine, tropical eel known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Mexico and Colombia. It is known from two specimens observed dwelling in sand at a depth range of 0 to 8 m. The maximum length recorded was 23.1 cm (9.1 in), albeit on an immature specimen.

Ophichthus longipenis, known commonly as the slender snake eel in Mexico, is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John E. McCosker and Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt in 1998. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central Pacific Ocean, including Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 69 metres, and inhabits sand sediments. Males can reach a maximum total length of 58.7 centimetres (23.1 in).

The longarmed snake eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John E. McCosker and Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt in 1998. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central Pacific Ocean, including Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama. It is known to dwell at a depth range of 24 to 79 metres, and inhabits soft substrates. Males can reach a maximum total length of 27.4 centimetres (10.8 in).

Ophichthus melope is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John E. McCosker and Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt in 1998. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Colombia and Costa Rica. It dwells at a depth range of 100 to 224 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 27 centimetres (11 in).

The dottedline snake eel is a species of eels in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John E. McCosker and Eugenia Brandt Böhlke in 1984. It is a marine, temperate water-dwelling eel which is known from the western central Atlantic Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth of 183 meters.

References

  1. Common names for Skythrenchelys zabra at www.fishbase.org.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Skythrenchelys zabra at www.fishbase.org.
  3. Castle, P. H. J., and J. E. McCosker, 1999 (20 Oct) [ref. 24075] A new genus and two new species of Myrophine worm-eels, with comments on Muraenichthys and Scolecenchelys (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae). Records of the Australian Museum v. 51 (nos 2-3): 113-122.
  4. 1 2 3 Skythrenchelys zabra at the IUCN redlist.