Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; non-migratory; depth range 1 - 235 m (Ref. 9710). Tropical
Western Atlantic: Bermuda and southern Florida, USA to the West Indies and Brazil.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9710)
Eel-like, moderate to shallow body depth; cardiform teeth present but restricted to upper jaw symphysis; swim bladder constricted forming two chambers; lacking enlarged dentary or premaxillary fangs, dentary diastema, pelvic fins and swim bladder rockerbone (Ref. 34024). Anal fin rays longer than dorsal fin rays (Ref. 26938).
Common species (Ref. 34024). Occurs in or near shallow seagrass beds. Lives in body cavity of sea cucumbers during daytime and leaves host at night. Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 34024.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Nielsen, J.G., D.M. Cohen, D.F. Markle and C.R. Robins, 1999. Ophidiiform fishes of the world (Order Ophidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(18):178p. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 34024)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: of no interest
Tools
Special reports
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 18.4 - 27.5, mean 24.2 °C (based on 239 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5312 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00102 (0.00046 - 0.00225), b=3.06 (2.88 - 3.24), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.6 ±0.5 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 66.2 [36.0, 130.7] mg/100g; Iron = 0.591 [0.352, 1.101] mg/100g; Protein = 17.2 [14.7, 19.7] %; Omega3 = 0.139 [0.079, 0.254] g/100g; Selenium = 41.5 [21.0, 88.2] μg/100g; VitaminA = 123 [42, 351] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.33 [0.92, 1.88] mg/100g (wet weight);
