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Short Worm Eel

Moringua abbreviata

  • Fish
  • IUCN: Least concern
  • Usual depth0–8 m
  • Water temperature27–29 °C
  • Best monthsAugust, November, and December
  • How commonRare
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About this species

The short worm eel is an eel in the family Moringuidae. It was described by Pieter Bleeker in 1863, originally under the genus Aphthalmichthys. It is a tropical marine eel found in the Indo-Pacific, including Laccadives, the Ryukyu Islands, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, and Indonesia. It is known to inhabit reefs. Males can reach a maximum total length of 33 cm.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Short worm 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: 0 records
  • February: 0 records
  • March: 0 records
  • April: 0 records
  • May: 1 records
  • June: 2 records
  • July: 2 records
  • August: 6 records
  • September: 0 records
  • October: 1 records
  • November: 5 records
  • December: 5 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–8 m · Deepest record: 11 m

  • 0–10 m: 10 records
  • 10–20 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 27–29 °C

  • 26–28 °C: 6 records
  • 28–30 °C: 27 records

Names and classification

English
Short Worm Eel
Names in 1 more languages
Simplified Chinese
短線蚓鰻, 線蚓鰻, 蚓鰻

Other scientific names: Aphthalmichthys abbreviatus

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).
  • 70 open-data records from 1863 to 1983.

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