Serpent eel
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| Ophisurus serpens (Linnaeus, 1758) |
The serpent eel or sand snake-eel, Ophisurus serpens, is an eel of the genus Ophisurus, found in the eastern Atlantic, western Mediterranean, western Indian Ocean from the south of Mozambique, western Pacific between Japan and Australia, and the north east coast of North Island in New Zealand. It can be found to depths of about 300 m, on sandy or muddy bottoms near rock outcrops. Its length is between 150 and 250 centimetres.
The serpent eel has a very elongate body, even the longest specimen is no more than 5 centimetres in diameter. The snout is slender and conical and the eyes relatively small. The dorsal and anal fins are both narrow and stop short of the tip of the tail, leaving a hard rigid point at the tip. The mouth is large with a single row of sharp teeth in each jaw and a larger row on the roof of the mouth.
Serpent eels are olive grey above and silver below with narrow black edges on the fins.
They are found in coastal waters, with young eels living in shallower estuaries, buried in the bottom sediments with only their eyes and part of the mouth showing. They can burrow extremely rapidly with the help of their sharp rigid tail tip.
When caught by anglers they are often mistaken for sea snakes, hence the common name Snake Eel.
[edit] References
- Ophisurus serpens (TSN 161563). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 19 March 2006.
- "Ophisurus serpens". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
