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Muraenichthys thompsoni Jordan & Richardson, 1908

Source-backed taxonomic record

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 Thompson's snake eel (Muraenichthys thompsoni) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). It was described by David Starr Jordan and Robert Earl Richardson in 1908. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the western central Pacific Ocean, including Vietnam, Australia, and the Philippines.

Wikipedia contributors, Thompson's snake eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:14:58.689074+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Muraenichthys thompsoni Jordan & Richardson, 1908
Name authority
Jordan & Richardson, 1908
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Teleostei
Order
Anguilliformes
Family
Ophichthidae
Genus
Muraenichthys
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.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. gigaclassActinopterygii
  8. superclassActinopteri
  9. classTeleostei
  10. orderAnguilliformes
  11. familyOphichthidae Günther, 1870
  12. subfamilyMyrophinae Kaup, 1856
  13. genusMuraenichthys Bleeker, 1853
  14. speciesMuraenichthys thompsoni Jordan & Richardson, 1908

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Muraenichthys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Muraenichthys gymnopterus (Bleeker, 1853)OphichthidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Muraenichthys philippinensis Schultz & Woods, 1949OphichthidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Muraenichthys sibogae Weber & de Beaufort, 1916OphichthidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Muraenichthys elerae Fowler, 1934OphichthidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Muraenichthys schultzei Bleeker, 1857OphichthidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 283 records assigned to Ophichthidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Muraenichthys malabonensis Herre, 1923 Herre, 1923synonym

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.

  1. Jordan, D. S.; Richardson R. E. (1908). Fishes from islands of the Philippine Archipelago. Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries, v. 27(Doc. 640) (for 1907): 233–287. 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:44L9M. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.