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Snake Eels
Ophichthinae
Ophichthidae is a family of fish in the order Anguilliformes, commonly known as the snake eels. The term "Ophichthidae" comes from Greek ophis ("serpent") and ichthys ("fish"). Snake eels are also burrowing eels, they are named for their physical appearance, they have long, cylindrical snakelike bodies. This family is found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate waters. They inhabit a wide range of habitats, from coastal shallows and even rivers, to depths of above 800 m (2,600 ft)....
47 branches of this subfamily, most-observed first · about 298 known species

Myrichthys
genusMyrichthys

Ophichthus
genusOphichthus

Ophisurus
genusOphisurus

Ridgefin Eels
genusCallechelys

Brachysomophis
genusBrachysomophis

Spoon-nose Eels
genusEchiophis

Pisodonophis
genusPisodonophis

Finless Eels
genusApterichtus

Bascanichthys
genusBascanichthys

Dalophis
genusDalophis

Leiuranus
genusLeiuranus

Malvoliophis
genusMalvoliophis

Quassiremus
genusQuassiremus

Fringelip Eels
genusCirrhimuraena

Lamnostoma
genusLamnostoma

Ichthyapus
genusIchthyapus

Xestochilus
genusXestochilus

Sailfin Eels
genusLetharchus

Echelus
genusEchelus

Paraletharchus
genusParaletharchus

Herpetoichthys
genusHerpetoichthys

Scytalichthys
genusScytalichthys

Mystriophis
genusMystriophis

Aplatophis
genusAplatophis

Yirrkala
genusYirrkala

Phyllophichthus
genusPhyllophichthus

Aprognathodon
genusAprognathodon
Allips
genusAllips
Caralophia
genusCaralophia
Caecula
genusCaecula
Cirricaecula
genusCirricaecula
Gordiichthys
genusGordiichthys
Ethadophis
genusEthadophis
Evips
genusEvips
Kertomichthys
genusKertomichthys
Hyphalophis
genusHyphalophis
Hemerorhinus
genusHemerorhinus
Luthulenchelys
genusLuthulenchelys
Leptenchelys
genusLeptenchelys
Lethogoleos
genusLethogoleos
Phaenomonas
genusPhaenomonas

Xyrias
genusXyrias
Stictorhinus
genusStictorhinus
Rhinophichthus
genusRhinophichthus
Suculentophichthus
genusSuculentophichthus
Chauligenion
genusChauligenion
Leuropharus
genusLeuropharus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Ophichthinae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 788544.