Callechelys guineensis
Shorttail Snake Eel
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Anguilliformes (True Eels)
Ophichthidae (Snake Eels)
Callechelys
Callechelys guineensis (Shorttail Snake Eel)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Moderately elongate and laterally compressed, with anus posterior to midlength and tail ending as a hard, finless point. Snout is acute and rounded, overhangs lower jaw, and is deeply grooved on underside. Lips lack barbels. Anterior nostril is tubular. Posterior nostril opens on underside of snout. Eye is moderately developed. Jaw teeth are moderate in size, slender, conical, and uniserial, with 4 or 5 in upper jaw and 9 to 11 in lower jaw. Single pair of intermaxillary teeth occur in groove on underside of snout. Vomerine teeth number 6 to 9, are in two widely separated rows, and are separated from intermaxillary teeth. Gill openings are ventrolateral to ventral, converge anteriorly, and are longer than isthmus. Pectoral fin is absent. Infraorbital pores number six, supraorbital pores number four, and supratemporal pores number three. Snout is 11% to 17%, eye is 3.9% to 7.7%, and mouth length is 23% to 33% of head length. Head length is 5.6% to 6.7%, trunk length is 59% to 62%, predorsal length is 2% to 2.8%, and depth behind gill openings is 1.7% to 2.2% of TL. Total vertebrae number 172 to 182, and preanal vertebrae number 111 to 118.
Color is cream to tan, with numerous brown to black spots. Spots on anterior head are equal to eye and those on rest of body are larger but variable in size. Belly is pale.
Distribution
eastern coast of Florida, western coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
tropical to warm temperate Atlantic Ocean from near shore to 36 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 1,080 mm TL
males mature at 722 mm TL
Burrows in sand or mud on the continental shelf from near shore to 35 m depth (Ref. 4455). Formerly Callechelys perryae. Minimum depth from Ref. 58018.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-08-15. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Bohlke and Chaplin 1968 (as Callechelys perryae)
C. R. Robins et al. 1986 (as C. perryae)
McCosker et al. 1989
Leiby 1989
Leiby, M. (1990) Ophichthidae. p. 176-192. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1.
McCosker, J.E. (1998) A revision of the snake-eel genus Callechelys (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) with the description of two new Indo-Pacific species and a new Callechelyin genus. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 50(7):185-215.
Comments On Callechelys guineensis