Ophichthus semilunatus, Half-moon blotch snake eel

Ophichthus semilunatus Hibino & Chiu, 2019

Half-moon blotch snake eel
Upload your photos and videos
 Google image
Image of Ophichthus semilunatus (Half-moon blotch snake eel)
No image available for this species;
drawing shows typical species in Ophichthidae.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Ophichthidae (Snake eels) > Ophichthinae
Etymology: Ophichthus: Greek, ophis = serpent + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335); semilunatus: Name from Latin ‘semi’ for half and ‘lunatus’ for moon, referring to the half-moon blotch on the anterior margin of anus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal. Subtropical

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

Northwest Pacific: Taiwan.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 50.0 cm TL (female)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 176. This species is distinguished by the following set of characters: head 9.4% TL; tail 57.5% TL; snout is not acute, 19.0% HL; eye large, 93.3% of snout length and 17.7% HL; dorsal-fin origin is well behind pectoral-fin tip by about three pectoral-fin lengths; teeth on maxilla triserial; SO 1+3; POM 6 or 7+2; predorsal vertebrae 29, preanal vertebrae 64, total vertebrae 176; anterior margin of anus with a half-moon shaped dark marking (Ref. 121619).
Cross section: oval.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

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

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

Hibino, Y., Y.-C. Chiu, H.-M. Chen and K.-T. Shao, 2019. Two new species of the genus Ophichthus from the western central Pacific Ocean, with a redescription of Ophichthus megalops Asano, 1987 (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae). Zootaxa 4702(1):140-154. (Ref. 121619)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Genetic Diversity
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | 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

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |