Saddled snake-eel

Saddled snake-eel
Individual seen on Norfolk Island
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Ophichthidae
Genus: Leiuranus
Species:
L. semicinctus
Binomial name
Leiuranus semicinctus
(Lay & Bennett, 1839)
Synonyms[2]
  • Ophisurus semicinctus Lay & Bennett, 1839
  • Liuranus semicinctus (Lay & Bennett, 1839)
  • Sphagebranchus cinctus Tanaka, 1908
  • Caecula cincta (Tanaka, 1908)
  • Machaerenchelys vanderbilti Fowler, 1938
  • Machaerenchelys phoenixensis Schultz, 1943
  • Leiuranus phoenixensis (Schultz, 1943)

The saddled snake-eel (Leiuranus semicinctus), also known commonly as the halfbanded snake-eel, the banded snake eel, or the culverin, is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels).[2] It was described by George Tradescant Lay and Edward Turner Bennett in 1839, originally under the genus Ophisurus.[3] It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific and southeastern Atlantic Ocean, including East and South Africa, the Hawaiian Islands, the Marquesan Islands, the Mangaréva islands, Japan, and Australia. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 70 metres (0 to 230 ft), most often around 0 to 10 metres (0 to 33 ft), and inhabits lagoons and reefs, in which it forms burrows in beds of seagrass and sandy areas. Males can reach a maximum total length of 66 centimetres (2.17 ft).[2]

The saddled snake-eel's diet consists of fish, crabs, prawns, and worms including Ptychodera. Males and females rise to the surface of the water during spawning.[2]

References

  1. ^ McCosker, J.; Smith, D.G. & Tighe, K. (2022). "Leiuranus semicinctus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T198991A2547681. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T198991A2547681.en. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Leiurus semicinctus". FishBase. June 2024 version.
  3. ^ Lay, G. T. and E. T. Bennett, 1839 [ref. 2730] Fishes. Pp. 41-75, Pls. 15-23. In: F.W. Bechey (ed.) The zoology of Captain Beechey's voyage, comp. from the collections ... to the Pacific and Behring's Straits... in 1825-28. H. G. Bohn, London.


Stub icon

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