The superorder Elopomorpha contains a variety of types of fishes that range from typical silvery-colored species, such as the tarpons and ladyfishes of the Elopiformes and the bonefishes of the Albuliformes, to the long and slender, smooth-bodied eels of the Anguilliformes. The one characteristic uniting this group of fishes is they all have leptocephalus larvae, which are unique to the Elopomorpha. No other fishes have this type of larvae.
Cutthroat eels are a family, Synaphobranchidae, of eels, the only members of the suborder Synaphobranchoidei. They are found worldwide in temperate and tropical seas.
The grey cutthroat eel, Synaphobranchus affinis, is a cutthroat eel. It was originally described by Albert Günther in 1877. It lives a benthic lifestyle, inhabiting the continental slope and global deep waters including near Portugal, Canary Islands, Morocco, Japan, Australia, and others. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which has been found at depths ranging from 300 to 2300 meters and at temperatures ranging from 3.3 - 11.3 °C. Males can grow to a length of up to 110 centimeters. It is primarily a scavenger, however it also actively hunts small fish and crustaceans.
The muddy arrowtooth eel, Ilyophis brunneus, is a cutthroat eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It is found around the world at depths below 1,000 m. Its length is up to 160 cm.
Ilyophis 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.
Histiobranchus is a genus of eels in the family Synaphobranchidae.
Atractodenchelys is a genus of eels in the cutthroat eel family, Synaphobranchidae.
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.
Haptenchelys is a genus of deep-water eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It contains two species. It is found in the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean at depths of 2,121 to 4,836 metres.
Meadia is a genus of eels in the cutthroat eel family Synaphobranchidae. It currently contains the following species:
Atractodenchelys phrix, known under the common name "arrowtooth eel" is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Catherine H. Robins and Charles Richard Robins in 1970. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from its type locality in the eastern Caribbean, in the western central Atlantic Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth range of 385–425 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 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 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).
Ilyophis nigeli is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Yuri Nikolaevich Shcherbachev and Kenneth J. Sulak in 1997. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from Japan, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth range of 700 to 1,800 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 51.3 centimetres (20.2 in).
Ilyophis robinsae is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Yuri Nikolaevich Shcherbachev and Kenneth J. Sulak in 1997. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the Philippines, in the Indo-West Pacific. It is known to dwell at depths of 4,800 metres (15,700 ft) to 5,180 metres (16,990 ft). Males can reach a maximum total length of 34.8 centimetres (13.7 in).
Ilyophis saldanhai is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Emma Stanislavovna Karmovskaya and Nikolai Vasilyevich Parin in 1999, and is the most recently described of the six species in the genus Ilyophis. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the western central Atlantic Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth of 3,020 metres (9,910 ft).
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).
Charles Richard Robins was an American academic, environmentalist and ichthyologist.
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.
