Cutthroat eel

Cutthroat eels
Muddy Arrowtooth Eel, Ilyophis brunneus. From plate 43 of Oceanic Ichthyology by G. Brown Goode and Tarleton H. Bean, published 1896.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Anguilliformes
Family:	Synaphobranchidae
Genera
Atractodenchelys Diastobranchus Dysomma Dysommina Haptenchelys Histiobranchus Ilyophis Linkenchelys Meadia Simenchelys Synaphobranchus Thermobiotes

Cutthroat eels are a family, Synaphobranchidae, of eels, the only member of the suborder Synaphobranchoidei]]]. They are native to the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.

There are 36 species in 12 genera, including:

• Genus Diastobranchus
  • Basketwork eel, Diastobranchus capensis.
• Genus Dysomma
  • Dysomma anguillare.
  • Dysomma longirostrum.
  • Dysomma melanurum.
• Genus Ilyophis
  • Muddy arrowtooth eel, Ilyophis brunneus
• Genus Histiobranchus
  • Deepwater arrowtooth eel, Histiobranchus bathybius.
  • Bruun's cutthroat eel, Histiobranchus bruuni.
• Genus Meadia
  • Meadia abyssalis.
  • Meadia roseni.
• Genus Simenchelys
  • Snubnosed eel, Simenchelys parasitica
• Genus Synaphobranchus
  • Grey cutthroat eel, Synaphobranchus affinis.

In some classifications (for example, ITIS), this family is split, with Simenchelys in its own family, Simenchelyidae.

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Synaphobranchidae" in FishBase. January 2006 version.