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Myrichthys maculosus (Cuvier, 1816)

Tiger snake eel
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Myrichthys maculosus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Myrichthys maculosus (Tiger snake eel)
Myrichthys maculosus
Picture by Greenfield, J.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Ophichthidae (Snake eels) > Ophichthinae
Etymology: Myrichthys: Greek, myros, -ou = male of morey eel + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Cuvier.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 262 m (Ref. 9710). Tropical; 30°N - 33°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to the central Pacific, not including Hawaii and the Leeward Islands. Replaced by Myrichthys magnificus in the Hawaiian Islands (Ref. 26145, 37816).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1602); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9137)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0; Vertebrae: 185 - 189. Pale cream in color with variable pattern of large and small black spots with narrower white interspaces (Ref. 3972, 48635). Young with black saddles (Ref. 3972). Its behavior is similar to Myrichthys colubrinus and Leiuranus semicinctus.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in sandy areas of reef flats, lagoons, and seaward reefs; living buried in the sand. May aggregate in large numbers under a light at night (Ref. 9710). Sometimes fully exposed when searching for prey (Ref. 30874). Feeds on small fishes and crustaceans (Ref. 89972). Solitary and more common at night (Ref 90102).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : McCosker, John E. | Collaborators

McCosker, J.E. and R.H. Rosenblatt, 1993. A revision of the snake eel genus Myrichthys (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) with the description of a new eastern Pacific species. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 48(8):153-169. (Ref. 40867)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 04 November 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
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Diet composition
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Ecology
Ecology
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Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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References

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 19.2 - 28.2, mean 26.1 °C (based on 991 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5005   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00091 (0.00039 - 0.00215), b=2.99 (2.79 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.5 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (60 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 29.1 [15.6, 50.6] mg/100g; Iron = 0.466 [0.280, 0.952] mg/100g; Protein = 18.7 [16.4, 21.2] %; Omega3 = 0.121 [0.054, 0.337] g/100g; Selenium = 67.5 [38.0, 129.7] μg/100g; VitaminA = 42.2 [13.0, 130.0] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.849 [0.605, 1.190] mg/100g (wet weight);