Manetail Snake Eel

Ophichthus urolophus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth91–419 m
Water temperature20–29 °C
Best monthsFebruary, June, and November
How commonRare

About this species

The manetail snake eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Coenraad Jacob Temminck and Hermann Schlegel in 1846, originally under the genus Conger. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific. It inhabits deep waters, but is found in muddy sediments in shallow waters on rare occasions. Males can reach a maximum total length of 61.5 centimetres (24.2 in).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Manetail 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: 0 records
February: 3 records
March: 2 records
April: 1 records
May: 2 records
June: 3 records
July: 0 records
August: 1 records
September: 1 records
October: 2 records
November: 3 records
December: 0 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 91–419 m · Deepest record: 455 m

30–40 m: 1 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: 1 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 0 records
120–130 m: 5 records
130–140 m: 0 records
140+ m: 8 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–29 °C

20–22 °C: 7 records
22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 1 records
26–28 °C: 9 records
28–30 °C: 5 records

Names and classification

English: Manetail Snake Eel

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: Susoumihebi, スソウミヘビ
Simplified Chinese: 硬骨篡, 裙鰭蛇鰻, 裾鰭蛇鰻

Other scientific names: Conger urolophus

Similar species

Black-neck Snake Eel
Ophichthus cephalozona
Evermann's Snake Eel
Ophichthus lithinus
Bluntnose snake-eel
Ophichthus apicalis
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).
73 open-data records from 1979 to 2017.
Species data updated October 30, 2026.

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