fangjaw eel
Echiophis brunneus (Castro-Aguirre & Suárez de los Cobos, 1983)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Pacific spoon-nose eel (Echiophis brunneus, also known commonly as the Fangjaw eel in Mexico) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). It was described by José Luis Castro-Aguirre and Sergio Suárez de los Cobos in 1983, originally under the genus Notophtophis. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including the Gulf of California, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Panama. It dwells at a maximum depth of 10 metres (33 ft), and inhabits sand and mud sediments. Males can reach a maximum total length of 140 centimetres (55 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 60 centimetres (24 in).
Due to its wide distribution, lack of known major threats, and lack of observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists the Pacific spoon-nose eel as Least Concern. It is sometimes caught as by-catch by trawlers, but is usually discarded.
Wikipedia contributors, Pacific spoon-nose eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:54:14.704514+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Echiophis brunneus (Castro-Aguirre & Suárez de los Cobos, 1983)
- Name authority
- (Castro-Aguirre & Suárez de los Cobos, 1983)
- Common name
- fangjaw eel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Ophichthidae
- Genus
- Echiophis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAnguilliformes
- familyOphichthidae Günther, 1870
- subfamilyOphichthinae Günther, 1870
- genusEchiophis Kaup, 1856
- speciesEchiophis brunneus (Castro-Aguirre & Suárez de los Cobos, 1983)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Echiophis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| snapper eelEchiophis punctifer (Kaup, 1859) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| spotted spoon-nose eelEchiophis intertinctus (Richardson, 1848) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Notophtophis brunneus Castro-Aguirre & Suárez de los Cobos, 1983 Castro-Aguirre & Suárez de los Cobos, 1983 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=275475 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:38LPF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.