Dysomma anguillare
Shortbelly Eel
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Anguilliformes (True Eels)
Synaphobranchidae (Cutthroat Eels)
Dysomma
Dysomma anguillare (Shortbelly 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.
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Characters
Moderately stout, fleshy plicate snout, anteriorly located anus, snout slightly tapered anteriorly and overhangs lower jaw, eye rather small, teeth in upper jaw small and multiserial, teeth in lower jaw large, widely spaced, in single series, about 10 in number, intermaxillary teeth 2, vomer with 4 compound teeth, gill openings small and extend to near insertion of pectoral fin, dorsal fin originates above pectoral fin base, anus located behind tip of pectoral fin, head pores: five infraorbital, three supraorbital, and six mandibular, snout length 21% to 28% and jaw length 36% to 44% of head length, head length 12% to 16%, predorsal length 11% to 14%, and preanal length 16% to 22% of TL, total vertebrae 119 to 130, precaudal vertebrae 58 to 63, caudal vertebrae 59 to 66, pectoral fin rays 10 or 11
Pallid, tan dorsally and white ventrally, ventral one-half of caudal fin dark
Distribution
Western North Atlantic, from Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea
Habitat Associations
Generally at depths less than 100 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 426 mm TL
Inhabits coastal waters. Prefers muddy bottoms, often off mouths of large rivers.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-08-17.
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by a combination of characters
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Robins and Robins 1976
Robins and Robins 1989
Castle 1986
Smith 1989h
Castle, P.H.J. (1986) Synaphobranchidae. p. 188-190. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Yamada, U., S. Shirai, T. Irie, M. Tokimura, S. Deng, Y. Zheng, C. Li, Y.U. Kim and Y.S. Kim (1995) Names and illustrations of fishes from the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. Overseas Fishery Cooperation Foundation, Tokyo, Japan. 288 p.
Ho, H.-C., D.G. Smith and K.A. Tighe (2015) Review of the arrowtooth eel genera Dysomma and Dysommina in Taiwan, with the description of a new species (Anguilliformes: Synaphobranchidae: Ilyophinae). Zootaxa 4060(1):86-104. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4060.1.12
Han, D., Q. Ma, K. Richard and C. Gao (2020) Length-weight relationships of 10 fish species from the coastal waters of the East China Sea. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 37:347-349. DOI: 10.1111/jai.14148
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