Nemichthys scolopaceus
Slender Snipe Eel
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Anguilliformes (True Eels)
Nemichthyidae (Snipe Eels)
Nemichthys
Nemichthys scolopaceus (Slender Snipe 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.
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Characters
Very elongate and slightly compressed, with anus under pectoral fin base and tail extended as a filament. Upper jaw is only slightly longer than lower jaw, and tips of jaws are not expanded into spatulate knobs. Eye length is 18% to 51% of distance from postorbital margin to upper end of pectoral fin base. Dermal ridges are lacking on head. Head pores are small, with 13 to 43 infraorbital, 7 to 22 supraorbital, 2 to 8 supratemporal, 6 to 17 postorbital, and 6 to 13 preopercular. Branchiostegal rays number 7 to 15, and pectoral fin rays number 10 to 14. Dorsal fin originates anterior to pectoral fin base. Lateral line pores are in three rows, with dorsal and ventral rows twice as numerous as median row. Predorsal vertebrae number 2 to 5, preanal vertebrae number 9 to 15, and precaudal vertebrae number 77 to 105. Mature males have short, occlusible jaws.
Light dorsally and dark ventrally, with dark pigment on ventral midline below stomach in juveniles and uniformly dark brown to black in mature specimens.
Distribution
Southern New England to the mouth of the Amazon River, including the northern Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the Bahamas.
Northern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Open pelagic, above and below 1,000 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 1,000 mm TL
Occur in midwater, usually below 400 m and occasionally in shallow water in the northern part of its range. Feed on crustaceans while swimming with its mouth open (Ref. 5377). Mesopelagic (Ref. 58302) and bathypelagic (Ref. 58426). Oviparous, with planktonic leptocephali (Ref. 32364). Degenerative changes in males and females suggest semelparity (Ref. 32364). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 86942.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders. Oviparous (Ref. 3247).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-07-14. Resilience: Low (K=0.30; assuming semelparity with tm>5).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Nielsen and Smith 1978
Smith and Nielsen 1989
Smith 1989n
Nielsen, J.G. (1984) Nemichthyidae (including Avocettinopsidae). p. 551-554. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2.
Castle, P.H.J. (1986) Nemichthyidae. p. 193-194. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Maigret, J. and B. Ly (1986) Les poissons de mer de Mauritanie. Science Nat., Compiègne. 213 p.
Hart, J.L. (1973) Pacific fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 180:740 p.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Nielsen, J.G. and D.G. Smith (1978) The eel family Nemichthyidae (Pisces, Anguilliformes). Carlsberg Found., Dana-Rept. No. 88:71 p.
Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii (eds.) (1983) Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.
Muus, B.J. and J.G. Nielsen (1999) Sea fish. Scandinavian Fishing Year Book, Hedehusene, Denmark. 340 p.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 p.
Love, M.S., C.W. Mecklenburg, T.A. Mecklenburg and L.K. Thorsteinson (2005) Resource inventory of marine and estuarine fishes of the West Coast and Alaska: A checklist of North Pacific and Arctic Ocean species from Baja California to the Alaska-Yukon border. U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Seattle, Washington, 98104.
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