Finny Snake Eel
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The finny snake eelCommon names for ''Caecula pterygera''
at www.fishbase.org. (''Caecula pterygera'') is an
eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
in the family
Ophichthidae Ophichthidae is a family (biology), family of fish in the order (biology), order Anguilliformes, commonly known as the snake eels. The term "Ophichthidae" comes from Greek language, Greek ''ophis'' ("serpent") and ''ichthys'' ("fish"). Snake eels ...
(worm/snake eels).''Caecula pterygera''
at www.fishbase.org.
It was described by
Martin Vahl Martin Henrichsen Vahl (10 October 1749 – 24 December 1804) was a Denmark-Norway, Danish-Norwegian botanist, herbalist and zoologist. Biography Martin Vahl was born in Bergen, Norway and attended Bergen Cathedral School. He studied botany at ...
in 1794.Vahl, M., 1794 ef. 4482''Beskrivelse af en nye fiske-slaegt, Caecula.'' Skrivter af Naturhistorie-Selskabet Kiøbenhavn v. 3 (no. 2): 149-156. It is a marine,
tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
eel which is known from the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, including southern
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. It is known to inhabit inshore areas of
turbid Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of both water clarity and wate ...
waters and
estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
, though not specifically for breeding purposes. Males can reach a maximum
total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...
of 30 centimetres, but more commonly reach a TL of 20 cm. The finny snake eel is marketed fresh, and used primarily for fishing bait.


References

Finny snake eel Fish described in 1794 Taxa named by Martin Vahl {{Ophichthidae-stub