Rice-paddy eel

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Rice-paddy eel
Pisodonophisboro.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Ophichthidae
Genus: Pisodonophis
Species:
P. boro
Binomial name
Pisodonophis boro
(Hamilton, 1822)
Synonyms [2]
  • Ophisurus boroHamilton, 1822, Kuchiya in Assamese
  • Ophichthys boro(Hamilton, 1822)
  • Pisodontophis bora(Hamilton, 1822)
  • Pisoodonophis boro(Hamilton, 1822)
  • Ophisurus haranchaHamilton, 1822
  • Ophisurus caudatusMcClelland, 1844
  • Ophisurus sinensisRichardson, 1848
  • Ophiurus baccidensCantor, 1849
  • Ophisurus baccidensCantor, 1849
  • Conger microstomaEydoux & Souleyet, 1850
  • Ophisurus brachysomaBleeker, 1853
  • Ophisurus schaapiiBleeker, 1853
  • Ophisurus schaapiBleeker, 1853
  • Ophisurus potamophilusBleeker, 1854
  • Pisodonophis assamensisSen, 1986

The rice-paddy eel (Pisodonophis boro; also known commonly as the Bengal's snake-eel, the estuary snake eel, or the snake eel [3] ) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm-snake eels). [4] It was described by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1822, originally in the genus Ophisurus . [5] It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the Indo-West Pacific, including Somalia, Tanzania, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Polynesia, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kenya, Madagascar, the Philippines, Malaysia, Mozambique, Seychelles, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and southern Yemen. [4] [1] It is an anadromous species and spawns in freshwater, often in rice paddies during the rainy season, earning it its common name. It also spends time in lagoons, estuaries and coastal rivers, in which it lives in burrows in the river bottom and bank. Males can reach a maximum total length (TL) of 100 centimetres, but more commonly reach a TL of 70 cm. [4]

The rice-paddy eel is of minor commercial interest to fisheries; it is caught in bag nets and marketed fresh. [4] Its diet consists of bony fish and crabs such as Uca annulipes ; [6] as a nocturnal creature it forages actively during the night. [4] Due to its widespread, albeit thinly populated distribution, and lack of major threats, the IUCN redlist currently lists the rice-paddy eel as Least Concern. It notes, however, that the species is subject to agricultural pollution. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Pisodonophis</i> Genus of fishes

Pisodonophis is a genus of eels in the snake eel family Ophichthidae. It currently contains the following species:

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The purple spaghetti-eel is an eel in the family Moringuidae. It was described by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1822, originally under the genus Muraena. It is a tropical, freshwater eel which is known from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It inhabits rivers and estuaries. Males can reach a maximum standard length of 44 cm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow conger</span> Species of fish

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The Panama sand-eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Seth Eugene Meek and Samuel Frederick Hildebrand in 1923. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of California, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua. It dwells at a maximum depth of 30 metres (98 ft), and inhabits sandy sediments, sometimes in estuaries and mangroves. Males can reach a maximum total length of 76 centimetres (30 in).

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

The Painted eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, originally under the genus Muraena. It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from the eastern Atlantic Ocean, including the Bay of Biscay, the Republic of Congo, and the Mediterranean. It dwells at a depth range of 3 to 12 metres, and inhabits burrows formed in sand and mud sediments in coastal lagoons and estuaries. Males can reach a maximum total length of 100 centimetres (39 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 60 centimetres (24 in).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spotted spoon-nose eel</span> Species of fish

The spotted spoon-nose eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John Richardson in 1848. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the western Atlantic Ocean, including North Carolina, USA, the northern Gulf of Mexico, and Brazil. It is known to dwell at a depth of 100 m (330 ft), and inhabits soft benthic sediments. Males can reach a maximum total length of 180 cm, but more commonly reach a TL of 150 cm.

The Oriental worm-eel, also known as the Oriental snake eel, the Oriental sand-eel or the finny sand-eel, is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John McClelland in 1844, originally under the genus Dalophis. It is a tropical, marine and freshwater-dwelling eel which is known from the Indo-Western Pacific, including Somalia, South Africa, India, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Oman, Palau, New Caledonia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, and Vanuatu. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 3 metres, and forms burrows in sand and mud sediments in estuaries, rivers, and inshore turbid waters. Males can reach a maximum total length of 36 centimetres (14 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 25 centimetres (9.8 in).

<i>Myrichthys tigrinus</i> Species of fish

The spotted snake eel, also known as the tiger snake eel or the spotted tiger snake eel, is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Charles Frédéric Girard in 1859. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, and Peru. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 60 metres, and inhabits benthic sediments of mud and sand. Males can reach a maximum total length of 74 centimetres (29 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 60 centimetres (24 in).

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

The punctuated snake eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Achille Valenciennes in 1837, originally under the genus Ophisurus. It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Nicaragua, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama. It dwells at a depth range of 15 to 277 metres, and inhabits sand and mud sediments. Males can reach a maximum total length of 85 centimetres (33 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 60 centimetres (24 in).

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

The Pacific snake eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Johann Jakob Kaup in 1856, originally under the genus Muraenopsis. It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including California, USA, Peru, the Gulf of California, Mexico, the Galapagos Islands, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama. It dwells at a maximum depth of 155 metres (509 ft), and forms burrows in mud and sand sediments. Males can reach a maximum total length of 115 centimetres (45 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 80 centimetres (31 in).

The yellow snake eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert in 1882. It is a marine, subtropical eel known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and the United States. It dwells at a depth range of 1 to 110 m, and forms burrows in rocky and sandy regions. Males can reach a maximum total length of 818 cm (322 in), but more commonly reach a length of 540 cm (210 in).

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

The Marble-toothed snake-eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Charles Henry Gilbert in 1898. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador. It dwells in shallow waters at a maximum depth of 10 metres (33 ft), and inhabits sand and mud sediments and mangroves. Males can reach a maximum total length of 68 centimetres (27 in).

Pisodonophis hijala is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1822, originally under the genus Ophisurus. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific.

The Korean snake eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Hwan-Sung Ji and Jin-Koo Kim in 2011. It is a marine, temperate water-dwelling eel which is known from Korea, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 5 to 110 meters, and uses its hard, pointed tail to form burrows in sand and mud sediments. Females can reach a maximum total length of 60.1 centimeters (23.7 in).

<i>Pisodonophis semicinctus</i> Species of fish

Pisodonophis semicinctus is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. First described by John Richardson in 1848., it is a marine, subtropical eel which is known in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Gibraltar to Angola. It was first recorded in the Mediterranean Sea in 1958 off Algeria and is now found on both shores of the western Basin. It dwells at a depth range of 10 to 30 m and inhabits the continental shelf, where it forms burrows in sand and mud. Males can reach a maximum total length of 80 cm, but more commonly reach a TL of 60 cm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sona sea catfish</span> Species of fish

The Sona sea catfish, also called the marine catfish or the dusky catfish, is a species of catfish in the family Ariidae. It was described by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1822, originally under the genus Pimelodus. It inhabits rivers, estuaries and marine coasts around Pakistan, Indonesia, Polynesia and Thailand. It reaches a maximum total length of 92 cm (36 in), but more commonly reaches a TL of 55 cm (22 in). Its maximum known life expectancy is 6 years. Males and females mate for life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sagor catfish</span> Species of fish

The Sagor catfish, also called the Sagor sea catfish, the Sunda sea-catfish, the marine catfish or the dusky catfish, is a species of catfish in the family Ariidae. It was described by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1822, originally under the genus Pimelodus. It inhabits estuaries and freshwater bodies in numerous areas of the Indo-Western Pacific ocean. It reaches a maximum total length of 45 cm (18 in), more commonly reaching a TL of 30 cm (12 in).

The Couma sea catfish, also known as the Pemecou sea catfish, is a species of catfish in the family Ariidae. It was described by Achille Valenciennes in 1840, originally under the genus Bagrus. It inhabits estuaries and rivers in Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. It reaches a maximum total length of 97 cm (38 in), more commonly reaching a TL of 50 cm (20 in). It reaches a maximum weight of 30 kg (66 lb). Its maximum known life expectancy is 5 years.

The flapnose sea catfish, also known as the brown sea catfish, is a species of catfish in the family Ariidae. It was described by Theodore Gill in 1863, originally under the genus Leptarius. It inhabits rivers and estuaries in Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Peru. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 15 m. It reaches a maximum total length of 90 cm (35 in), more commonly reaching a TL of 50 cm (20 in).

References

  1. 1 2 3 Chaudhry, S. (2010). "Pisodonophis boro". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2010: e.T166552A6234729. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T166552A6234729.en . Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  2. Synonyms of Pisodonophis boro at www.fishbase.org.
  3. Common names for Pisodonophis boro at www.fishbase.org.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Pisodonophis boro at www.fishbase.org.
  5. Hamilton, F., 1822 [ref. 2031] An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches. Edinburgh & London. i-vii + 1-405, Pls. 1-39.
  6. Food items reported for Pisodonophis boro at www.fishbase.org.