The shortfinned worm eel (''Scolecenchelys australis'', also known commonly as the shortfin worm eel, the worm eel, the southern worm eel, the Down's worm eel, the Iredale's worm eel, or the Scotts worm eel) is an

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

in the family

Ophichthidae 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 thei ...

(worm/snake eels).''Scolecenchelys australis''
at www.fishbase.org. It was described by

William John Macleay Sir William John Macleay (13 June 1820 – 7 December 1891) was a Scottish-Australian politician, Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. Early life Macleay was born at Wick, Highland, Wick, Caithness, Scotland, ...

in 1881, originally under the genus ''

Muraenichthys ''Muraenichthys'' is a genus of eels in the snake eel family Ophichthidae. Species There are currently 8 recognized species in this genus: * '' Muraenichthys gymnopterus'' ( Bleeker, 1853) * '' Muraenichthys hattae'' D. S. Jordan & Snyder, 19 ...

''.Macleay, W., 1881 (12 Sept.) ef. 6222''A descriptive catalogue of Australian fishes.'' Part IV. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales v. 6 (pt 2): 202-387. It is a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

water-dwelling eel which is known from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, in the southwestern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. It forms large colonies which inhabit burrows in soft sediments. Males can reach a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of . The shortfinned worm eel's diet consists primarily of benthic

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s and

polychaetes Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are mad ...

. Food and Feeding Habits Summary for ''Scolecenchelys australis''
at www.fishbase.org.

References

Fish described in 1881 Scolecenchelys {{Ophichthidae-stub