Ophisternon

Ophisternon
Bengal eel (O. bengalense)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Synbranchiformes
Family:	Synbranchidae
Subfamily:	Synbranchinae
Genus:	Ophisternon McClelland, 1844
Type species
Ophisternon bengalensis McClelland, 1844 [1]
Species
see text
Synonyms [2]
Anommatophasma Mees, 1962 Furmastix Whitley, 1951 Pluto Hubbs, 1938 Tetrabranchus Bleeker, 1851

Ophisternon is a genus of swamp eels found in fresh and brackish waters in South and Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, Middle America and West Africa. ^[3] Two species are blind cave-dwellers. ^[4]

Well-preserved fossil remains of an Ophisternon sp. are known from the early Pleistocene-aged Laguna Formation of the Philippines, representing the oldest known fossil record of this genus. ^[5]

Species

There are currently seven recognized species in this genus: ^{[3] [6]}

• Ophisternon aenigmaticum D. E. Rosen & Greenwood, 1976 (Obscure swamp eel)
• Ophisternon afrum (Boulenger, 1909) (Guinea swamp eel)
• Ophisternon bengalense McClelland, 1844 (Bengal eel)
• Ophisternon candidum (Mees, 1962) (Blind cave eel)
• Ophisternon gutturale (J. Richardson, 1845) (Australian swamp eel)
• Ophisternon infernale (C. L. Hubbs, 1938) (Blind swamp eel)
• Ophisternon berlini (J. Arroyave, 2024) (Berlin's bloodworm eel) ^[6]

References

1. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Ophisteron". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 11 November 2019.
2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Synbranchidae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 11 November 2019.
3. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Ophisternon". FishBase . May 2017 version.
4. Romero, A., editor (2001). The Biology of Hypogean Fishes. Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes. ISBN   978-1402000768
5. Přikryl, Tomáš; Castro, Abigael; Fernando, Allan Gil; Nogot, Jaan Ruy Conrad; Magtoto, Clarence; Garas, Kevin; Mediodia, Dominique; Lin, Chien-Hsiang (2025-01-16). "Fossil fish assemblage of the Laguna Formation, Philippines: unveiling the uniqueness of Pleistocene freshwater ecosystems in Southeast Asia". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 144 (1): 5. doi: 10.1186/s13358-024-00347-0 . ISSN   1664-2384.
6. Arroyave, Jairo; Angulo, Arturo; Mar-Silva, Adán Fernando; Stiassny, Melanie L. J. (2024-10-02). "A New Endogean, Dwarf, and Troglomorphic Species of Swamp Eel of the Genus Ophisternon (Synbranchiformes: Synbranchidae) from Costa Rica: Evidence from Comparative Mitogenomic and Anatomical Data" . Ichthyology & Herpetology. 112 (3). doi:10.1643/i2024055. ISSN   2766-1512.