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Ophisurus serpens (Linnaeus, 1758)

Serpent eel
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Ophisurus serpens   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Ophisurus serpens (Serpent eel)
Ophisurus serpens
Picture by El Aoussimi, A.

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: Ophisurus: Greek, ophis = serpent + Greek, oura = tail (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

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

Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range ? - 300 m (Ref. 9563). Subtropical; 46°N - 41°S, 18°W - 179°E

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

Circumglobal: Atlantic (northern coast of Iberian peninsula to South Africa, also Madeira and western Mediterranean) and Indo-Pacific: southern Mozambique to South Africa; north to Japan, south to Australasia.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 250 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3972); common length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Body olive green to brown above, paler below; head pores black; young silvery (Ref. 3972).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabiting the continental shelf on sand or mud bottom (Ref. 4455). Buried with only its head exposed (Ref. 27121). Also found in estuaries (Ref. 9563).

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

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

Bauchot, M.-L., 1986. Ophichthidae (including Echelidae). p. 577-585. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. volume 2. UNESCO, Paris. (Ref. 6522)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 20 October 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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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 | 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): 13.4 - 27.4, mean 19.7 °C (based on 1148 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00071 (0.00040 - 0.00124), b=2.97 (2.82 - 3.12), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.1   ±0.7 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 17.5 [4.7, 48.6] mg/100g; Iron = 0.692 [0.254, 2.830] mg/100g; Protein = 19 [17, 21] %; Omega3 = 0.272 [0.123, 0.723] g/100g; Selenium = 41.9 [11.4, 112.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 4.34 [1.45, 12.72] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.534 [0.270, 1.002] mg/100g (wet weight);