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Apterichtus caecus  (Linnaeus, 1758)

European finless eel
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2100
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Apterichtus caecus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Apterichtus caecus (European finless eel)
Apterichtus caecus
Picture by Suárez, C.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Ophichthidae (Snake eels) > Ophichthinae
Etymology: Apterichtus: From the Greek ??????? (apteron), without fins, and ????? (ichtus, more correctly written ichthys; masculine), fish..

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 0 - 85 m (Ref. 101270).   Subtropical, preferred ?; 46°N - 4°S, 32°W - 17°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: Western and eastern Mediterranean, eastern Atlantic south to Azores, Madeira, and the Canary islands.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 132 - 139. This species is distinguished by the following characters: tail 1.6-1.7, head 12-15, and body depth 56-83 in total length; preopercular pores 4 and there are 5 pores in supratemporal canal; teeth conical and uniserial on jaws, becoming biserial on vomer of large specimens, vomerine teeth 8-14; when fresh body ochre in color with numerous small dark brown spots, those spots forming a continuous mid-dorsal band, yellowish on ventral surface; the head with dark brown spots over a pale background, a prominent horizontal white patch beneath and behind the orbit; MVF 52-134, total vertebrae 132-139 (n=6) (Ref. 101270).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Burrows in sand or mud on the continental shelf (Ref. 4455); usually in fine sand (Ref. 101270).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : McCosker, John | Collaborators

McCosker, J.E. and Y. Hibino, 2015. A review of the finless snake eels of the genus Apterichtus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae), with the description of five new species. Zootaxa 3941(1):49-78. (Ref. 101270)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishes of Iran | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00151 (0.00061 - 0.00373), b=2.91 (2.70 - 3.12), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  4.1   ±0.64 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (34 of 100) .