Vulture Eel
Ichthyapus vulturis
- Usual depth1–33 m
- Water temperature24–29 °C
- Best monthsApril and September
- How commonRare
About this species
The Vulture sand eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Max Carl Wilhelm Weber and Lieven Ferdinand de Beaufort in 1916, originally under the genus Sphagebranchus. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific, including Mascarenes, Pitcairn, Japan, Australia, Micronesia, and Easter Island. It dwells in inshore waters at a depth range of 2 to 18 metres, and forms burrows in soft, sandy sediments.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Vulture sand eel”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 1 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 1 records
- April: 3 records
- May: 0 records
- June: 2 records
- July: 2 records
- August: 1 records
- September: 4 records
- October: 0 records
- November: 0 records
- December: 0 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–33 m · Deepest record: 32.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Vulture Eel, Vulture Sand Eel, Vulture Snake Eel
Names in 1 more languages
- Japanese
- トガリウミヘビ
Other scientific names: Ichthyapus vulturus, Sphagebranchus vulturis
Similar species
Saddled snake-eelLeiuranus semicinctus
Harlequin snake-eelMyrichthys colubrinus
Tiger snake-eelMyrichthys maculosus
Serpent eelOphisurus serpens
Pencil Snake EelApterichtus klazingai
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).
- 28 open-data records from 1949 to 2016.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
Log what you see on your next dive
The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.