You can sponsor this page

Myrichthys maculosus  (Cuvier, 1816)

Tiger snake eel
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2100
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Myrichthys maculosus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Videos     Google image
Image of Myrichthys maculosus (Tiger snake eel)
Myrichthys maculosus
Picture by Greenfield, J.

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: Myrichthys: Greek, myros, -ou = male of morey eel + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 262 m (Ref. 9710).   Tropical, preferred ?; 30°N - 33°S

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

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to the central Pacific, not including Hawaii and the Leeward Islands. Replaced by Myrichthys magnificus in the Hawaiian Islands (Ref. 26145, 37816).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1602); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9137)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0; Vertebrae: 185 - 189. Pale cream in color with variable pattern of large and small black spots with narrower white interspaces (Ref. 3972, 48635). Young with black saddles (Ref. 3972). Its behavior is similar to Myrichthys colubrinus and Leiuranus semicinctus.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in sandy areas of reef flats, lagoons, and seaward reefs; living buried in the sand. May aggregate in large numbers under a light at night (Ref. 9710). Sometimes fully exposed when searching for prey (Ref. 30874). Feeds on small fishes and crustaceans (Ref. 89972). Solitary and more common at night (Ref 90102).

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 R.H. Rosenblatt, 1993. A revision of the snake eel genus Myrichthys (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) with the description of a new eastern Pacific species. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 48(8):153-169. (Ref. 40867)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

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

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | DORIS | 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 | Public aquariums | 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 = 0.5005   [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):  3.6   ±0.4 se; Based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (45 of 100) .