Shrimp Eel

The shrimp eel has an elongate body and snake-like shape characteristic of the eels. Individuals are colored brown to gray on their dorsal side with lighter coloration below. Their branchial region (ventral side behind the head) is swollen with a basket-like structure of over-lapping free rays (jugostegalia) underneath the skin but they are often visible through the skin. The tail is fleshy with no caudal or pelvic fins. The common length of an adult is 50 centimeters. The maximum length collected is 91.4 centimeters. Shrimp eels can be distinguished from other eels by their lack of a caudal fin and external jugostegalia (basket-like structure of over-lapping free rays). It can also be distinguished from other snake eels by its lack of markings, well-developed pectoral fin, and dorsal fin originating behind the gill slit.

Shrimp eels are distributed along the Western Atlantic from Canada to Massachusetts and the northern Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil. They are absent in the Bahamas and most of the Caribbean islands.