Cutthroat eels are a family, Synaphobranchidae, of eels, the only members of the suborder Synaphobranchoidei. They are found worldwide in temperate and tropical seas.
Dysomma is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Synaphobranchidae, the cutthroat eels. These eels are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Meadia is a genus of eels in the cutthroat eel family Synaphobranchidae. It currently contains the following species:
The dark deepwater snake eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John E. McCosker and Chen Yu-Yun in 2000. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from Taiwan, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 36–1350 m, and inhabits sand and mud. Specimens have been observed in burrows with only their heads exposed, or resting on sediment with their bodies curved in an S shape. Females can reach a maximum total length of 62.8 cm.
Dysomma anguillare, the shortbelly eel, stout moray, mustard eel or arrowtooth eel, is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Keppel Harcourt Barnard in 1923. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Western Pacific, including the United States, Venezuela, South Africa, Zanzibar, and Japan. It lives at a depth range of 30 to 270 metres, and inhabits muddy sediments in coastal waters and large rivermouths. Males can reach a maximum total length of 52 centimetres (20 in).
Dysomma brevirostre, the pignosed arrowtooth eel or batnose eel, is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Luigi Facciolà in 1887. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean, including Madeira Island, the Gulf of Guinea, the Ligurian Sea, Italy, and Florida and Hawaii, USA. It dwells at a depth range of 200 to 1,000 metres, and inhabits soft sediments on the continental slope. Males can reach a maximum total length of 30 centimetres (12 in).
Dysomma bucephalus is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Alfred William Alcock in 1889. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific. It is known to dwell at a maximum depth of 353 metres.
Dysomma dolichosomatum is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Christine Karrer in 1983. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific. It dwells at a depth range of 550–555 metres.
Dysomma fuscoventralis is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Christine Karrer and Wolfgang Klausewitz in 1982. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is endemic to the Red Sea. It dwells at a depth range of 750–1425 metres.
Dysomma goslinei is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Catherine H. Robins and Charles Richard Robins in 1976. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific. Males can reach a maximum total length of 19.7 centimetres.
Dysomma longirostrum is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Chen Yu-Yun and Michael Hin-Kiu Mok in 2001. It is a marine, temperate water-dwelling eel which is known from Taiwan, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 100–150 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 19.6 centimetres.
Dysomma melanurum is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Johnson T. F. Chen and Herman Ting-Chen Weng in 1967. It is a subtropical, marine eel which is known from the western Pacific Ocean. Males can reach a maximum total length of 23.7 centimetres.
Dysomma muciparus is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Alfred William Alcock in 1891. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific. It is known to dwell at a depth range of 439–505 metres.
Dysomma polycatodon is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Christine Karrer in 1983. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific. It is known to dwell at a depth range of 170–175 metres.
Dysomma tridens is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Catherine H. Robins, Eugenia Brandt Böhlke, and Charles Richard Robins in 1989. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from off Belize, in the western central Atlantic Ocean. It is known to dwell at a maximum depth of 348 metres.
Ilyophis arx is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Catherine H. Robins in 1976. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the eastern Pacific and northeastern Atlantic Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 1,790 to 3,225 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 44.7 centimetres (17.6 in).
Ilyophis blachei is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Luiz Vieria Caldas Saldanha and Nigel Merrett in 1982. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the northeastern and southeastern Atlantic and southern Indian Ocean. It dwells at a depth range 580 to 2,070 metres, and inhabits the continental shelf. Males can reach a maximum total length of 79.2 centimetres (31.2 in).
Meadia roseni is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Michael Hin-Kiu Mok, Chi-Ying Lee, and Hung-Jung Chan in 1991. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from Taiwan, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth of 1,020 metres (3,350 ft). Males can reach a maximum total length of 74.5 centimetres (29.3 in).
The Kaup's arrowtooth eel is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by James Yate Johnson in 1862. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the Indo-Western Pacific and eastern and western Atlantic Ocean, including the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Cape Verde, the Western Sahara, Nigeria, Namibia, South Africa, Greenland, France, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Philippines, Portugal, Spain, the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Japan, Australia, Mauritania, Morocco, and Hawaii. It dwells at a depth range of 120 to 4,800 metres, most often between 400 and 2,200 metres, and inhabits the upper abyssal zone on the continental slope. It is intolerant of the temperatures of higher waters. Males can reach a maximum total length of 100 centimetres (39 in).
Ilyophinae, the arrowtooth ells or mustard eels, is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes belongiing to the family Synaphobranchidae, the cutthroat eels. Within its family this subfamily shows greatest number of species and the greatest morphological diversity.
