Black-pored snake-eel

Black-pored snake-eel
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Ophichthidae
Genus: Ophichthus
Species: O. melope
Binomial name
Ophichthus melope
McCosker & Rosenblatt, 1998

Ophichthus melope is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels).[1] It was described by John E. McCosker and Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt in 1998.[2] It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Colombia and Costa Rica.[3] It dwells at a depth range of 100 to 224 metres (328 to 735 ft). Males can reach a maximum total length of 27 centimetres (11 in).[1]

The species epithet "melope" means "black cavity" in Greek, and is treated as a noun in apposition. It refers to the rings surrounding the pores.[1] Due to a lack of known threats and observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists O. melope as Least Concern.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ophichthus melope at www.fishbase.org.
  2. McCosker, J. E. and R. H. Rosenblatt, 1998 (18 Dec.) [ref. 23645] A revision of the eastern Pacific snake-eel genus Ophichthus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) with the description of six new species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences v. 50 (no. 19): 397-432.
  3. 1 2 Ophichthus melope at the IUCN redlist.
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