The barbed brotula (''Selachophidium guentheri'') is a species of

cusk-eel The cusk-eel family, Ophidiidae, is a group of marine bony fishes in the Ophidiiformes order. The scientific name is from the Greek ''ophis'' meaning "snake", and refers to their eel-like appearance. True eels diverged from other ray-finned fi ...

found in the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

and

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

s off of the southern coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

where it is found at depths of from . This species grows to a length of TL. This species is one of two member of its

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

, the other being ''Selachophidium americanum''. The barbed brotula has been found to have an ossified swelling of bone in the back of the skull that is connected to the pectoral girdle, vertebral column, and gas bladder via soft tissue.

References

Ophidiidae Marine fish of Southern Africa Taxa named by John Dow Fisher Gilchrist barbed brotula {{Ophidiidae-stub