Bluntnose snake-eel
Ophichthus apicalis
- Usual depth0–291 m
- Water temperature17–29 °C
- Best monthsMarch, September, and October
- How commonRare
About this species
The bluntnose snake eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. The author of the species is anonymous, but it has been referred to Edward Turner Bennett in 1830. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific, including Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines. It dwells at a maximum depth of 22 m, but also frequents shores. Males can reach a maximum total length of 45 cm.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Bluntnose 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: 2 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 3 records
- April: 1 records
- May: 2 records
- June: 1 records
- July: 1 records
- August: 0 records
- September: 3 records
- October: 3 records
- November: 1 records
- December: 0 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–291 m · Deepest record: 291 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 17–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Bluntnose snake-eel, bluntnose snake-eel, Bluntnose Snake Eel, Pointed-tail Snake-eel
Names in 1 more languages
- Simplified Chinese
- 土龍, 尖吻蛇鰻, 硬骨仔, 硬骨篡, 篡仔, 頂蛇鰻, 鰻仔
Other scientific names: Ophichthus bangko, Ophichthys apicalis, Ophisurus apicalis, Ophisurus bangko, Ophisurus compar, Ophisurus diepenhorsti, Ophisurus spadiceus
Similar species
- Black-neck Snake Eel
Ophichthus cephalozona
- Evermann's Snake Eel
Ophichthus lithinus
- Manetail Snake Eel
Ophichthus urolophus
- Saddled snake-eel
Leiuranus semicinctus
- Harlequin snake-eel
Myrichthys colubrinus
- Tiger snake-eel
Myrichthys maculosus
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).
- 63 open-data records from 1830 to 2017.
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