A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/camouflaging plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the Lymnocryptes snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the Coenocorypha snipes are found only in the outlying islands of New Zealand. The four species of painted snipe are not closely related to the typical snipes, and are placed in their own family, the Rostratulidae.
The saccopharyngiformes are a derived lineage of unusual eels within the order Anguilliformes, and includes families Cyematidae, Monognathidae, Eurypharyngidae, Saccopharyngidae, and the proposed family Neocyematidae. Most of the fish in this group are deep-dwelling and rarely seen, typically known from only a handful of specimens. Species include recognizable fish such as pelican eels, bobtail eels, and gulper eels. Some can live deep in the ocean, well into the aphotic zone, approximately 500–1800 meters deep. Extensive research has not been conducted on them due to being indirectly observed, with some species known only from their larvae. All families except for the exceptionally rare individuals of proposed family Neoceymatidae are found in all major oceans.
The great snipe is a small stocky wader in the genus Gallinago. This bird's breeding habitat is marshes and wet meadows with short vegetation in north-eastern Europe, including north-western Russia. Great snipes are migratory, wintering in Africa. The European breeding population is in steep decline.
Moray eels, or Muraenidae, are a family of eels whose members are found worldwide. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera which are almost exclusively marine, but several species are regularly seen in brackish water, and a few are found in fresh water.
The Anguillidae are a family of ray-finned fish that contains the freshwater eels. Eighteen of the 19 extant species and six subspecies in this family are in the genus Anguilla. They are elongated fish with snake-like bodies, their long dorsal, caudal and anal fins forming a continuous fringe. They are catadromous fish, spending their adult lives in fresh water, but migrating to the ocean to spawn. Eels are an important food fish and some species are now farm-raised, but not bred in captivity. Many populations in the wild are now threatened, and Seafood Watch recommend consumers avoid eating anguillid eels.
The slender snipe eel is a fish that can weigh only a few ounces, yet reach 5 feet or 1.5 m in length. Features include a bird-like beak with curving tips, covered with tiny hooked teeth, which they use to sweep through the water to catch shrimp and other crustaceans. It has a lifespan of ten years.
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.
Snipe eels are a family, Nemichthyidae, of eels that consists of nine species in three genera. They are pelagic fishes, found in every ocean, mostly at depths of 300–600 m but sometimes as deep as 4000 m. Depending on the species, adults may reach 1–2 m (39–79 in) in length, yet they weigh only 80-400 g. They are distinguished by their very slender jaws that separate toward the tips as the upper jaw curves upward. The jaws appear similar to the beak of the bird called the snipe. Snipe eels are oviparous, and the juveniles, called Leptocephali, do not resemble the adults but have oval, leaf-shaped and transparent bodies. Different species of snipe eel have different shapes, sizes and colors. The similarly named bobtail snipe eel is actually in a different family and represented by two species, the black Cyema atrum and the bright red Neocyema erythrosoma.
The bobtail snipe eels are two species of deep-sea eels in the family Cyematidae, one only in each of two genera. They are small elongate fishes, growing up to 16cm in length.
Cyema atrum is a species of deep-water bobtail snipe eel in the family Cyematidae. It is the only member of its genus Cyema. It is found globally at depths of 330 to 5,100 m. Common names include the bobtail eel, snipe eel, scissorjaw eel, and arrow eel. It grows to a possible length of 16 cm (6.3 in), based on the estimated size for other bobtail eels. There is not much information about this enigmatic fish, because it is so rare and has been encountered a small number of times, but its diet may be composed of tiny fish larvae, zooplankton, copepods, amphipods, sea snow, and tiny krill. Instead of gobbling them up, the eel uses the comb-like teeth to swipe the food from the water column by slashing the head to the sides.
Leptocephalus is a genus that was used for species of larval eels, called leptocephali, that were thought to be new fish species, or whose adult eel species were not known. Leptocephali differ so much in appearance from their adults that the larvae and adults of eels are not easily matched, and when first discovered, leptocephali were thought to be a distinct type of fishes, but not eels. Because of this, the genus designation of Leptocephalus was used for a while for unidentified leptocephali even after it was known that these were the larvae of eels thus becoming a "wastebasket taxon", but this practice is no longer used. Examples of marine congrid larvae, found in the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea that were named this way are listed below. Only two species in two families are currently treated as having any validity, though the validity of L. bellottii is strongly in doubt.
Nemichthys curvirostris, the boxer snipe eel, is a snipe eel of the family Nemichthyidae. Like other snipe eels, they have incredibly narrow and elongated bodies, and small fins.
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes, which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage, and most are predators.
Avocettina is a genus of eels in the snipe-eel family Nemichthyidae. It currently contains the following species:
Labichthys is a genus of eels in the snipe-eel family Nemichthyidae. It currently contains the following species:
Protanguilla palau is a species of eel, the only species in the genus Protanguilla, which is in turn the only genus in its family, Protanguillidae. Individuals were found swimming in March 2010 in a deep underwater cave in a fringing reef off the coast of Palau.
Nemichthys larseni is an eel in the family Nemichthyidae. It was described by Jørgen G. Nielsen and David G. Smith in 1978. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the eastern Pacific Ocean, including Oregon and Hawaii, USA, Mexico, and the Gulf of California. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 1,000 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 161 centimetres (63 in).
The Bean's sawtooth eel is an eel in the family Nemichthyidae. It was described by Theodore Gill and John Adam Ryder in 1883. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from throughout the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Western Pacific Ocean, including Iceland, South Africa, Réunion, and Australia. It dwells at a depth range of 0–5998 metres, and leads a solitary lifestyle. It migrates vertically at night. Males can reach a maximum total length of 78-80 centimetres, making it the largest sawtooth eel.
