Common Name
Indifferent Eel
Year Described
McCosker & Bohlke, 1984
Identification
Vertebrae: 161-173
Body elongate. Anterior part of body cylindrical in cross-section and compressed rearward. Trunk much longer than tail. Snout bluntly rounded and overhangs jaw. Underside of snout flattened with no median groove but sometimes a small notch. Anterior nostril tubular on underside of snout. Posterior nostril opens under eye in upper lip. Eye small over middle of jaw. Jaw downturned and small. Teeth small and uniserial in both jaws. Vomerine teeth in one row of 12-14 teeth. Intermaxillary teeth (4) present. Head pores well developed. Body relatively smooth, lacking grooves. Gill openings crescent-shaped, low on body and converging anteriorly. Dorsal and anal fins present but low and ending before tail tip. Dorsal fin begins on top of head. Pectoral fin absent. Caudal fin absent. Tail tip hard and pointed. Lateral line complete. Lateral pores visible. One temporal, 1 interorbital, 5 mandibular, and 2 preopercular pores.
Color
Color in alcohol plain pale brown with minute melanophores dorsally.
Size
Maximum size to 31.6cm TL.
Habitat
Taken of soft bottoms from 30-60m.
Range
Known mostly from the northern Gulf of Mexico but also one specimen from off Suriname.
References
McCosker, J. E., & J. E. Böhlke. 1984. A review of the snake eel genera Gordiichthys and Ethadophis, with descriptions of new species and comments on related Atlantic bascanichthyins (Pisces: Ophichthidae). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 32-44.