Shortdorsal Cutthroat Eel
Synaphobranchus brevidorsalis
- Usual depth947–2,020 m
- Water temperature15–30 °C
- Best monthsNovember
- How commonRare
About this species
The shortdorsal cutthroat eel is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by Albert Günther in 1887. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific and western central Atlantic Ocean, including Zanzibar, Maldives, Australia, Japan, Suriname, and the Gulf of Mexico. It dwells at a depth range of 900 to 3,000 metres, most often between 1,000 to 2,500 metres, and leads a benthic lifestyle, inhabiting the continental slope. Males can reach a maximum total length of 111 centimetres (44 in).
Text from the Wikipedia article “Shortdorsal cutthroat 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: 13 records
- February: 7 records
- March: 1 records
- April: 3 records
- May: 2 records
- June: 2 records
- July: 5 records
- August: 8 records
- September: 29 records
- October: 8 records
- November: 50 records
- December: 26 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 947–2,020 m · Deepest record: 2,415 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 15–30 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Shortdorsal Cutthroat Eel, Shortfin Cut-throat Eel
Names in 2 more languages
- Japanese
- Motosodeanago, モトソデアナゴ
- Simplified Chinese
- 合鰓鰻, 短背鰭合鰓鰻, 短背鰭合鰓鰻(合鰓鰻)
Similar species
- Kaup's arrowtooth eel
Synaphobranchus kaupii
- Grey cutthroat eel
Synaphobranchus affinis
- Parasitic eel
Simenchelys parasitica
- Shortbelly eel
Dysomma anguillare
- Abyssal cutthroat eel
Histiobranchus bathybius
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).
- 324 open-data records from 1887 to 2024.
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