Synaphobranchus affinis
No common name
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Anguilliformes (True Eels)
Synaphobranchidae (Cutthroat Eels)
Synaphobranchus
Synaphobranchus affinis
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
Moderately slender and compressed, lower jaw longer than upper jaw but with fleshy tip of snout overhanging tip of lower jaw. Snout has fleshy, acute, proboscis-like tip. Eye is large and oval shaped. Jaw teeth are small, pointed, and in bands, with innermost teeth longest. Intermaxillary teeth are larger than other teeth and are arranged in narrow patch. Vomerine teeth are minute and uniserial. Gape of mouth extends about eye diameter posterior to posterior margin of eye. Gill openings are mid-ventral and open through common median slit. Pectoral fin tapers to point. Dorsal fin is above anus or slightly posterior. Infraorbital pores number 10, supraorbital pores number 5, and preoperculo-mandibular pores number 12. Snout length is 27% to 36%, eye is 9% to 17%, and length of lower jaw is 47% to 59% of head length. Predorsal length is 27% to 37%, preanal length is 27% to 31%, and body depth is 5% to 10% of TL. Total vertebrae number 125 to 140, precaudal vertebrae number 51, and caudal vertebrae number 66. Pectoral fin rays number 14 to 17. Scales are oval shaped, embedded, and arranged in basket-weave pattern.
Color is grayish to brownish, with pinkish dorsal surface.
Distribution
Middle Atlantic Bight to the Straits of Florida, the northeastern Gulf of Mexico
Northeastern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Worldwide from tropical to temperate seas, depths of capture range from 403 to 1,190 m
Biology
Food consists of crustaceans and small fishes.
Maximum known size is 460 mm TL.
Found on the upper continental slope (Ref. 50610, 75154), over rocky substrata (Ref. 58302).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2009-02-04. Resilience: Medium (Assuming fecundity > 100).
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
Robins 1971
Robins and Robins 1976
Robins and Robins 1989
Martin 1984
Castle 1986
Castle, P.H.J. (1986) Synaphobranchidae. p. 188-190. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Smith, D.G. and P.H.J. Castle (1990) Synaphobranchidae. p. 195-198. 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.
Sulak, K.J. and Y.N. Shcherbachev (1997) Zoogeography and systematics of six deep-living genera of synaphobranchid eels, with a key to taxa and description of two new species of Ilyophis. Bull. Mar. Sci. 60(3):1158-1194.
Russian Academy of Sciences (2000) Catalog of vertebrates of Kamchatka and adjacent waters. Kamchatsky Pechatny Dvor, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia. 166 p.
Fricke, R., M. Kulbicki and L. Wantiez (2011) Checklist of the fishes of New Caledonia, and their distribution in the Southwest Pacific Ocean (Pisces). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde A, Neue Serie 4:341-463.
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