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Highfin snake eel

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Micromesistius (talk | contribs) at 11:20, 12 July 2017 (+Category:Fish of the Pacific Ocean; +Category:Fish of the Indian Ocean; +Category:Taxa named by Johann Jakob Kaup using HotCat, format refs). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Highfin snake eel
O. altipennis burrowed in the sand (Komodo, Indonesia)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
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Species:
O. altipennis
Binomial name
Ophichthus altipennis
(Kaup, 1856)
Synonyms[2]
  • Microdonophis altipennis Kaup, 1856
  • Ophichthus altipinnis (Kaup, 1856)
  • Ophichthys melanochir Bleeker, 1864
  • Ophichthus melanochir (Bleeker, 1864)
  • Pisoodonophis zophistius Jordan & Snyder, 1901
  • Pisodonophis zophistius Jordan & Snyder, 1901

The highfin snake eel (Ophichthus altipennis, also known as the blackfin snake eel or the black-finned snake eel[3]) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae.[4] It was described by Johann Jakob Kaup in 1856, originally under the genus Microdonophis.[5] It is a marine, tropical eel known from the eastern Indian Ocean and northwestern and western central Pacific Ocean, including Australia, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Japan, the Marshall Islands, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 40 m (0 to 131 ft),[1] and forms burrows in soft inshore sand sediments. Males can reach a maximum total length of 103 cm (41 in).[4]

Due to its wide distribution in the Pacific and lack of known threats, the IUCN redlist currently lists the highfin snake eel as "Least Concern".[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c McCosker, J.E. (2010). "Ophichthus altipennis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010. IUCN: e.T155329A4776443. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  2. ^ Synonyms of Ophichthus altipennis at www.fishbase.org.
  3. ^ Common names of Ophichthus altipennis at www.fishbase.org.
  4. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Ophichthus altipennis". FishBase. February 2017 version.
  5. ^ Kaup, J. J. (1856). "Uebersicht der Aale". Archiv für Naturgeschichte. 22 (1): 41–77.