Ophichthus puncticeps
Ophichthus puncticeps (Kaup, 1859)
Palespotted eel
Ophichthus puncticeps
photo by Flescher, D.


Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /var/www/html/FieldGuide/FieldGuideSummary.php on line 600

Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /var/www/html/FieldGuide/FieldGuideSummary.php on line 616
Family:  Ophichthidae (Snake eels), subfamily: Ophichthinae
Max. size:  81 cm TL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  demersal; marine; depth range 0 - 150 m
Distribution:  Western Atlantic: North Carolina, USA and northeast Gulf of Mexico to Brazil; absent from the Bahamas and most islands of the Caribbean.
Diagnosis:   
Biology:  Occurs from shore to deep waters, but rare in shallow water (Ref. 7251). On the continental shelf of South America, this species is said to be common between 5 and 40 m depths (Ref. 5217).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 15 August 2011 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  reports of ciguatera poisoning


Source and more info: www.fishbase.org. For personal, classroom, and other internal use only. Not for publication.