Ophichthus triserialis
Pacific Snake Eel
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Anguilliformes (True Eels)
Ophichthidae (Snake Eels)
Ophichthus
Ophichthus triserialis (Pacific Snake Eel)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: eel-like.
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: off Klamath River in northern California, USA to Peru, including Gulf of California in Mexico and Galapagos Islands Rare in north of Baja California, Mexico. Common on shrimp grounds from Gulf of California southward.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 1-155 m.
Biology
Inhabits sandy and muddy bottoms, from shallow waters up to a depth of 20 m (Ref. 9328). Burrows in bottoms. Generally captured from tide pool depths to 155 m (Ref. 31243).
Max length: 121.5 cm TL; common length: 80.0 cm TL; max weight: 373 g.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-05-23. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
Fitch, J.E. and R.J. Lavenberg (1975) Tidepool and nearshore fishes of California. California Natural History Guides:38. University of California Press, Berkelley and Los Angeles, California. 156 p.
McCosker, J.E. and R.H. Rosenblatt (1998) A revision of the Eastern Pacific snake-eel genus Ophichthus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) with the description of six new species. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 50(19):397-432.
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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