Gulper eel

Eurypharynx pelecanoides

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth133–2,145 m
Water temperature1–30 °C
Best monthsJune
How commonOccasional

About this species

The pelican eel is a deep-sea eel. It is the only known member of the genus Eurypharynx and the family Eurypharyngidae. The species belongs to the "saccopharyngiforms", members of which were historically placed in their own order, but are now considered true eels in the order Anguilliformes. The pelican eel has been described by many synonyms, yet nobody has been able to demonstrate that more than one species of pelican eel exists. It is also referred to as the gulper eel, pelican gulper, and umbrella-mouth gulper. The specific epithet pelecanoides refers to the pelican, as the fish's large mouth is reminiscent of that of the pelican.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pelican 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: 7 records
February: 25 records
March: 49 records
April: 65 records
May: 50 records
June: 114 records
July: 52 records
August: 46 records
September: 46 records
October: 53 records
November: 68 records
December: 6 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 133–2,145 m · Deepest record: 4,655 m

0–10 m: 18 records
10–20 m: 1 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 4 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 3 records
80–90 m: 6 records
90–100 m: 7 records
100–110 m: 6 records
110+ m: 468 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 1–30 °C

0–2 °C: 9 records
2–4 °C: 4 records
4–6 °C: 1 records
6–8 °C: 10 records
8–10 °C: 20 records
10–12 °C: 53 records
12–14 °C: 36 records
14–16 °C: 31 records
16–18 °C: 73 records
18–20 °C: 42 records
20–22 °C: 54 records
22–24 °C: 71 records
24–26 °C: 31 records
26–28 °C: 19 records
28–30 °C: 10 records

Names and classification

English: Gulper eel, Pelican eel, Pelican gulper, Big-mouth Gulper, Deep-sea Gulper Eel, Gulper, gulper eel, Pelican Fish, pelican gulper, pelican gulper eel, Pelican Gulper Fish, Umbrellamouth Gulper

Names in 6 more languages

German: Pelikanaal
Spanish: pez buche gordo, Pez Pelicano, Pez pelícano
French: Grand-gousier Pelican, Grand-gousier pélican, Grandgousier Pélican
Japanese: Fukuronagi, Fukuro-unagi, フクロウナギ, フクロウナギ科
Thai: ปลาไหลปากนกกระทุง
Simplified Chinese: 傘口吞噬鰻, 吞噬鰻, 吞鰻, 咽囊鰻, 巨口鰻, 鵜鶘鰻

Other scientific names: Euripharynx pelecanoides, Eurypharynx richardi, Gastrostomus bairdii, Gastrostomus pacificus, Leptocephalus pseudolatissimus, Macropharynx longicaudatus

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).
1,560 open-data records from 1883 to 2024.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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