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Pygmy Shore Eel

Alabes parvula

  • Fish
  • IUCN: Least concern
  • Usual depth1–11 m
  • Water temperature14–23 °C
  • Best monthsMarch and April
  • How commonRare
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About this species

The pygmy shore eel is a species of clingfish from the family Gobiesocidae. It is endemic to south eastern Australia where it can be found within seagrass beds and sometimes on rocky reefs at depths of less than 10 metres (33 ft) from Point Cartwright in Queensland to Flinders Island, South Australia; its range includes Tasmania. This species was described as Cheilobranchus parvulus by Allan Riverstone McCulloch in 1909 from a type locality of rockpools near Sydney.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pygmy shore eel”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

  • January: 2 records
  • February: 3 records
  • March: 8 records
  • April: 10 records
  • May: 1 records
  • June: 0 records
  • July: 0 records
  • August: 0 records
  • September: 2 records
  • October: 1 records
  • November: 5 records
  • December: 4 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–11 m · Deepest record: 10.5 m

  • 0–10 m: 3 records
  • 10–20 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–23 °C

  • 12–14 °C: 1 records
  • 14–16 °C: 12 records
  • 16–18 °C: 8 records
  • 18–20 °C: 9 records
  • 20–22 °C: 14 records
  • 22–24 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English
Pygmy Shore Eel

Other scientific names: Alabes parvulus, Cheilobranchus parvula, Cheilobranchus parvulus

Similar species

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

  • Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
  • Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
  • Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
  • 60 open-data records from 1922 to 2009.

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