Ophichthus aphotistos, Dark deepwater snake-eel

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Ophichthus aphotistos McCosker & Chen, 2000

Dark deepwater snake-eel
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Ophichthus aphotistos   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Ophichthus aphotistos (Dark deepwater snake-eel)
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drawing shows typical species in Ophichthidae.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Ophichthidae (Snake eels) > Ophichthinae
Etymology: Ophichthus: Greek, ophis = serpent + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335);  aphotistos: Named for both its appearance (aphotistos = dark or obscure) and its habitat..
More on authors: McCosker & Chen.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 36 - 1350 m (Ref. 86730), usually 250 - 350 m (Ref. 86730). Deep-water

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Northwest Pacific: Taiwan.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 55.4, range 48 - 62.8 cm
Max length : 62.8 cm TL (female)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 158 - 162. Body uniformly grayish or brown to nearly black. Dorsal fin origin well behind pectoral fin tips; pectoral fin rounded, not elongate and well-developed. Posterior nostril a hole above the upper lip, covered by a flap that extends to or below the edge of the mouth. Upper lip lacks barbels between anterior and posterior nostrils. Pores small but conspicuous, SO 1 + 4, IO 4 + 2, POM 6 +2. Teeth small and conical, biserial on anterior vomer and jaws (Ref. 40865).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

This species is captured by trawl over sand and muddy bottom between 36-1350 and observed from submersibles to be most abundant between 250-350 m, with only the heads exposed over sandy substrates or resting on the sediment with their bodies in S-shaped curves (Ref. 86730). Mature females collected 48-62.8 cm TL (Ref. 40865).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : McCosker, John E. | Collaborators

McCosker, J.E. and Y.-Y. Chen, 2000. A new species of deepwater snake-eel, Ophichthus aphotistos, with comments on Neenchelys retropinna (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from Taiwan. Ichthyol. Res. 47(4):353-357. (Ref. 40865)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 06 December 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Countries
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Ecosystems
Occurrences
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Ecology
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Common names
Synonyms
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Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
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Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
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Larvae
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Otoliths
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 11.8 - 17.3, mean 14.5 °C (based on 12 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00089 (0.00039 - 0.00204), b=3.00 (2.80 - 3.20), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.9   ±0.7 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (45 of 100).