Snubnosed spiny eel

Notacanthus chemnitzii

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–1,244 m
Water temperature-0–29 °C
Best monthsAugust, October, and November
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Julien Savoie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The snub-nosed spiny eel is a member of the family Notacanthidae, the deep-sea spiny eels, which are not true eels (Anguilliformes). The snub-nosed spiny eel exists in waters all over the world, except in the tropics, ranging in color from light tan to bluish grey in small ones to dark brown in large ones. Its primary food is sea anemones. The eel usually lives in deep waters, mostly more than 200 m below the surface. Female snub-nosed spiny eels reach maturity around 18 years old, and are larger than 55 cm in length at maturity. Males reach maturity around 14 years and are larger than 66 cm in length.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Snub-nosed spiny 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: 72 records
February: 133 records
March: 54 records
April: 53 records
May: 93 records
June: 52 records
July: 107 records
August: 247 records
September: 200 records
October: 243 records
November: 212 records
December: 25 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–1,244 m · Deepest record: 2,600 m

0–10 m: 73 records
10–20 m: 1 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: 0 records
110+ m: 419 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of -0–29 °C

-2–0 °C: 13 records
0–2 °C: 74 records
2–4 °C: 63 records
4–6 °C: 118 records
6–8 °C: 74 records
8–10 °C: 69 records
10–12 °C: 43 records
12–14 °C: 21 records
14–16 °C: 7 records
16–18 °C: 6 records
18–20 °C: 6 records
20–22 °C: 5 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 2 records
26–28 °C: 3 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Snubnosed spiny eel, Spiny eel, Spiny-eel, Cosmopolitan Spineback, Largescale Tapirfish, snubnosed spiny eel, Snubnosed spiny eel, Spiny-eel, spiny eel, spiny-eel

Names in 2 more languages

French: Poisson-tapir à grandes écailles, Poisson-tapir sombre, Poisson-tapir sombre, tapir à grandes écailles
Japanese: Kurosokogisu, クロソコギス

Other scientific names: Acanthonosus nasus, Campilodon fabricii, Campylodon fabricii, Notacanthus analis, Notacanthus chemnitzi, Notacanthus fascidens, Notacanthus melanoventris, Notacanthus nasus, Notacanthus phasganorus, Notocanthus chemnitzi, Notocanthus nasus

Similar species

Notacanthus sexspinis
Abbott's spiny eel
Notacanthus abbotti
Backfin tapirfish
Lipogenys gillii

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).
1,770 open-data records from 1883 to 2021.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.

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