Skip to content
Palespotted Eel
SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Other fish (coast and sea)

Palespotted Eel

Ophichthus puncticeps (Kaup, 1859)

LC Least Concern

Names

EnglishPalespotted Eel
Dutch—
SpanishTieso de cabeza manchada
Chinese斑头蛇鳗
Scientific nameOphichthus puncticeps (Kaup, 1859)

About this species

The palespotted eel (Ophichthus puncticeps) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). It was described by Johann Jakob Kaup in 1859, originally under the genus Cryptopterus. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the western Atlantic Ocean, including North Carolina, USA, the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, and Brazil. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 150 meters (0 to 492 ft), most often at around 5 to 40 meters (16 to 131 ft). Males can reach a maximum total length of 81 centimeters (32 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 60 centimeters (24 in).

Read more on Wikipedia · Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Classification

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
OrderAnguilliformes
FamilyOphichthidae
GenusOphichthus

Related species in Suriname