Bobtail Eel

Cyema atrum

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth175–2,350 m
Water temperature7–28 °C
Best monthsApril
How commonRare

About this species

Cyema is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the monotypic family Cyematidae. The only species in the genus is Cyema atrum, the arrow eel, bobtail eel, bobtail snipe eel or deepwater eel. This species has circumglobal distribution.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cyema”, 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: 3 records
February: 2 records
March: 4 records
April: 26 records
May: 4 records
June: 9 records
July: 7 records
August: 5 records
September: 7 records
October: 7 records
November: 4 records
December: 7 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 175–2,350 m · Deepest record: 4,450 m

0–10 m: 2 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 50 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 7–28 °C

6–8 °C: 2 records
8–10 °C: 1 records
10–12 °C: 4 records
12–14 °C: 7 records
14–16 °C: 17 records
16–18 °C: 20 records
18–20 °C: 7 records
20–22 °C: 9 records
22–24 °C: 8 records
24–26 °C: 9 records
26–28 °C: 4 records

Names and classification

English: Bobtail Eel, Arrow Eel, Black Bobtail Eel, bobtail Eel, Bobtail Snipe Eel, deepwater eel

Names in 3 more languages

Spanish: anguila de profundidad
Japanese: Yabaneunagi, ヤバネウナギ
Simplified Chinese: 月尾鰻

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).
470 open-data records from 1885 to 2023.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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