snake mackerel
Gempylus serpens Cuvier, 1829
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.
Gempylus serpens, illustrated in "Oceanic ichthyology, a treatise on the deep-sea and pelagic fishes of the world, based chiefly upon the collections made by the steamers Blake, Albatross, and Fish Hawk in the northwestern Atlantic, with an atlas containing 417 figures", published 1895
Goode, G. Brown (George Brown), 1851-1896 Bean, Tarleton H. (Tarleton Hoffman), 1846-1916 · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The snake mackerel (Gempylus serpens) is the sole species of fish in the monotypic genus Gempylus, belonging to the family Gempylidae (which is also referred to generally as "snake mackerels"). It is found worldwide in tropical and subtropical oceans between the latitudes of 42°N and 40°S; adults are known to stray into temperate waters. It is found to a depth of 600 meters (2,000 feet). Populations of the snake mackerel from the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific differ in vertebral count (51–55 versus 48–50) and number of first dorsal fin spines (30–32 versus 26–30), and so may represent separate species.
Wikipedia contributors, Snake mackerel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:19:32.301645+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gempylus serpens Cuvier, 1829
- Name authority
- Cuvier, 1829
- Common name
- snake mackerel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Scombriformes
- Family
- Gempylidae
- Genus
- Gempylus
- 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
- orderScombriformes
- familyGempylidae Gill, 1862
- genusGempylus Cuvier, 1829
- speciesGempylus serpens Cuvier, 1829
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Gempylus notha (Bory de St. Vincent, 1804) (Bory de St. Vincent, 1804) | synonym |
| Lemnisoma thyrsitoides Lesson, 1831 Lesson, 1831 | synonym |
| Muraena compressa Walbaum, 1792 Walbaum, 1792 | synonym |
| Acinacea notha Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1804 Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1804 | synonym |
| Gempylus coluber Cuvier, 1832 Cuvier, 1832 | synonym |
| Gempylus ophidianus Poey, 1860 Poey, 1860 | 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.
- Cuvier, G. (1829). Le Règne Animal distribué, d’apres son organisation, pour servir de base à l’histoire naturelle des animaux et d’introduction à l’anatomie comparée. [The Animal Kingdom, arranged according to its organization, to serve as a basis for the natural history of animals and as an introduction to comparative anatomy]. Déterville, Paris, Edition 2. v. 2: i–xv + 1–406. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.1964 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.
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:3FKF5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.