Saddled snake-eel
Leiuranus semicinctus
- Usual depth0–8 m
- Water temperature21–30 °C
- Best monthsJuly, August, and September
- How commonOccasional
About this species
The saddled snake-eel, also known commonly as the halfbanded snake-eel, the banded snake eel, or the culverin, is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by George Tradescant Lay and Edward Turner Bennett in 1839, originally under the genus Ophisurus. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific and southeastern Atlantic Ocean, including East and South Africa, the Hawaiian Islands, the Marquesan Islands, the Mangaréva islands, Japan, and Australia. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 70 metres, most often around 0 to 10 metres, and inhabits lagoons and reefs, in which it forms burrows in beds of seagrass and sandy areas. Males can reach a maximum total length of 66 centimetres (2.17 ft).
Text from the Wikipedia article “Saddled snake-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: 24 records
- February: 18 records
- March: 13 records
- April: 34 records
- May: 31 records
- June: 24 records
- July: 43 records
- August: 44 records
- September: 50 records
- October: 37 records
- November: 28 records
- December: 11 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–8 m · Deepest record: 100 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 21–30 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Saddled snake-eel, Banded Snake Eel, Culverin, halfbanded snake eel, Half-banded Snake eel, Halfbanded Snake-eel, saddled snake-eel, Saddled Snake Eel
Names in 4 more languages
- Spanish
- Tieso ensillado
- French
- poisson-serpent à selles
- Japanese
- Soraumihebi, ソラウミヘビ
- Simplified Chinese
- 半環平蓋蛇鰻, 半環蓋蛇鰻, 硬骨仔, 硬骨篡, 篡仔, 鰻仔
Other scientific names: Caecula cincta, Leiuranus phoenixensis, Liuranus semicinctus, Machaerenchelys phoenixensis, Machaerenchelys vanderbilti, Ophisurus semicinctus, Sphagebranchus cinctus
Similar species
- Harlequin snake-eel
Myrichthys colubrinus
- Tiger snake-eel
Myrichthys maculosus
Stargazer Snake EelBrachysomophis cirrocheilos
Marbled snake eelCallechelys marmorata
- Black-striped Snake Eel
Callechelys catostoma
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).
- 650 open-data records from 1839 to 2023.
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