Kaup's arrowtooth eel

Synaphobranchus kaupii

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth264–1,158 m
Water temperature0–29 °C
Best monthsAugust and September
How commonCommon

About this species

The Kaup's arrowtooth eel (Synaphobranchus kaupii), also known as the Kaup's cut-throat eel, the Gray's cutthroat, the Longnosed eel, the Northern cutthroat eel, or the Slatjaw cutthroat eel) is an eel in the family Synaphobranchidae. It was described by James Yate Johnson in 1862. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the Indo-Western Pacific and eastern and western Atlantic Ocean, including the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Cape Verde, the Western Sahara, Nigeria, Namibia, South Africa, Greenland, France, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Philippines, Portugal, Spain, the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Japan, Australia, Mauritania, Morocco, and Hawaii. It dwells at a depth range of 120 to 4,800 metres, most often between 400 and 2,200 metres, and inhabits the upper abyssal zone on the continental slope. It is intolerant of the temperatures of higher waters. Males can reach a maximum total length of 100 centimetres (39 in).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Kaup's arrowtooth 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: 83 records
February: 110 records
March: 105 records
April: 109 records
May: 200 records
June: 185 records
July: 930 records
August: 1,771 records
September: 1,870 records
October: 536 records
November: 263 records
December: 50 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 264–1,158 m · Deepest record: 3,650 m

0–10 m: 11 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: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 2 records
110+ m: 3,176 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 0–29 °C

-2–0 °C: 3 records
0–2 °C: 58 records
2–4 °C: 19 records
4–6 °C: 20 records
6–8 °C: 9 records
8–10 °C: 25 records
10–12 °C: 151 records
12–14 °C: 164 records
14–16 °C: 5 records
16–18 °C: 15 records
18–20 °C: 26 records
20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 2 records
26–28 °C: 1 records
28–30 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English: Kaup's arrowtooth eel, Northern cutthroat eel, Slatjaw cutthroat eel, Gray's Cutthroat, longnosed eel, Long-nose Eel, northern cutthroat eel, slatjaw cutthroat eel

Names in 3 more languages

French: Anguille Egorgée Bécue, anguille égorgée bécue, Anguille Egorgée de Gray, Anguille égorgée de Gray
Japanese: Irakoanago, イラコアナゴ
Simplified Chinese: 合鰓鰻, 高氏合鰓鰻

Other scientific names: Nettophichthys retropinnatus, Synaphobranchus kaupi

Similar species

Grey cutthroat eel
Synaphobranchus affinis
Shortdorsal Cutthroat Eel
Synaphobranchus brevidorsalis
Parasitic eel
Simenchelys parasitica
Atractodenchelys robinsorum
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).
9,202 open-data records from 1878 to 2025.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist