''Myrichthys colubrinus'', the banded snake eel, ringed snake eel or harlequin snake eel, is a

snake eel Ophichthidae is a family of fish in the order Anguilliformes, commonly known as the snake eels. The term "Ophichthidae" comes from Greek ''ophis'' ("serpent") and ''ichthys'' ("fish"). Snake eels are also burrowing eels. They are named for their ...

from the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of in length. The ringed snake eel resembles the venomous sea snake, ''

Laticauda colubrina The yellow-lipped sea krait (''Laticauda colubrina''), also known as the banded sea krait or colubrine sea krait, is a species of highly venomous snake found in tropical Indo-Pacific oceanic waters. The snake has distinctive black stripes and a ...

'' which is a form of

Batesian mimicry Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, who worked on butt ...

. It also adjusts its behaviour to swim freely during the day, whereas other snake eels tend to stay hidden and roam at night. In 2021, it was first recorded in Hawaii.

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* Photos o
Myrichthys colubrinus
in iNaturalist colubrinus Fish described in 1781 Taxa named by Pieter Boddaert {{Anguilliformes-stub