Narrownecked oceanic eel

Narrownecked oceanic eel
From plate 49 of Oceanic Ichthyology by G. Brown Goode and Tarleton H. Bean, published 1896.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Derichthyidae
Genus: Derichthys
T. N. Gill, 1884
Species:
D. serpentinus
Binomial name
Derichthys serpentinus
Synonyms
  • Leptocephalus anguilloides

The narrownecked oceanic eel, Derichthys serpentinus, is a longneck eel, the only species in the genus Derichthys, found in all oceans in depths between 500 and 2,000 m. Their length is up to 40 centimetres (1 ft 4 in).

The skin is scaleless and red-brown. It lives on the bottom at great depths.

Freshly caught specimen of D. serpentinus before and after a large decapod prey item was removed from the stomach.

References

  • "Derichthys serpentinus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 19 March 2006.
  • Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Derichthys serpentinus". FishBase. January 2006 version.
  • 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


Stub icon

This Anguilliformes article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.