Pacific worm eel | |
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Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Anguilliformes |
Family: | Ophichthidae |
Genus: | Myrophis |
Species: | M. vafer
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Binomial name | |
Myrophis vafer | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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The Pacific worm eel (Myrophis vafer, also known commonly as the worm eel in the United Kingdom [2]) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). [3] It was described by David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert in 1883. [4] It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including California, USA, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, and Peru. [5] It dwells at a depth range of 1 to 12 metres (3.3 to 39.4 ft), and inhabits sand and mud sediments. Unlike many species of eel, it does not form burrows. Males can reach a maximum total length of 46 centimetres (1 ft 6 in). [3]
Young Pacific worm eels are drawn to lights at the sea's surface. [3] Due to its wide distribution, lack of known major threats and lack of observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists the species as Least Concern. [5]
Pacific worm eel | |
---|---|
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Anguilliformes |
Family: | Ophichthidae |
Genus: | Myrophis |
Species: | M. vafer
|
Binomial name | |
Myrophis vafer | |
Synonyms [1] | |
|
The Pacific worm eel (Myrophis vafer, also known commonly as the worm eel in the United Kingdom [2]) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). [3] It was described by David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert in 1883. [4] It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including California, USA, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, and Peru. [5] It dwells at a depth range of 1 to 12 metres (3.3 to 39.4 ft), and inhabits sand and mud sediments. Unlike many species of eel, it does not form burrows. Males can reach a maximum total length of 46 centimetres (1 ft 6 in). [3]
Young Pacific worm eels are drawn to lights at the sea's surface. [3] Due to its wide distribution, lack of known major threats and lack of observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists the species as Least Concern. [5]