slender snipe eel
Nemichthys scolopaceus Richardson, 1848
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 slender snipe eel (Nemichthys scolopaceus), also known as the deep sea duck, is a fish that can weigh only a few ounces, yet reach 5 feet or 1.5 m in length. Features include a bird-like beak with curving tips, covered with tiny hooked teeth, which they use to sweep through the water to catch shrimp and other crustaceans. It has a lifespan of ten years. It has more vertebrae in its backbone than any other animal, around 750. However, its anus has moved forward during its evolution and is now located on its throat. Its larvae are shaped like leaves, which actually get smaller before transforming into adults. Many specimens found in museums were spat up from larger fish that were caught in trawls. Juveniles have been recorded at 100 meters in the Mediterranean sea and do not perform vertical migration. Adults can be found from the surface to 4,000 meters in the North Atlantic, and perform diurnal migration.
Wikipedia contributors, Slender snipe eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:11:31.958635+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Nemichthys scolopaceus Richardson, 1848
- Name authority
- Richardson, 1848
- Common name
- slender snipe eel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Nemichthyidae
- Genus
- Nemichthys
- 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
- familyNemichthyidae Kaup, 1859
- genusNemichthys Richardson, 1848
- speciesNemichthys scolopaceus Richardson, 1848
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Nemichthys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Nemichthys larseni Nielsen & Smith, 1978 | NemichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Nemichthys curvirostris (Strömman, 1896) | NemichthyidaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Investigator acanthonotus (Alcock, 1894) (Alcock, 1894) | synonym |
| Leptocephalus canaricus Lea, 1913 Lea, 1913 | synonym |
| Nematoprora polygonifera Gilbert, 1905 Gilbert, 1905 | synonym |
| Nemichthys avocetta Jordan & Gilbert, 1881 Jordan & Gilbert, 1881 | synonym |
| Nemichthys fronto Garman, 1899 Garman, 1899 | synonym |
| Nemichthys mediterraneus Ariola, 1904 Ariola, 1904 | synonym |
| Nemichthys scolopacea Richardson, 1848 Richardson, 1848 | synonym |
| Leptorhynchus leuchtenbergi Lowe, 1852 Lowe, 1852 | synonym |
| Nemichthys gaussiana (Pappenheim, 1914) (Pappenheim, 1914) | synonym |
| Tilurella gaussiana Pappenheim, 1914 Pappenheim, 1914 | synonym |
| Nemichthys acanthonotus Alcock, 1894 Alcock, 1894 | synonym |
| Leptocephalus andreae Schmidt, 1912 Schmidt, 1912 | synonym |
| Nemichthys scalopaceus Richardson, 1848 Richardson, 1848 | synonym |
| Paravocettinops trilinearis Kanazawa & Maul, 1967 Kanazawa & Maul, 1967 | synonym |
| Belonopsis leuchtenbergi (Lowe, 1852) (Lowe, 1852) | synonym |
| Cercomitus flagellifer Weber, 1913 Weber, 1913 | 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.
- Richardson, J. (1848). Fishes. In: A. Adams (Ed.). The Zoology of the Voyage of H. M. S. Samarang; under the Command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher, during the Years 1843-1846. Reeve & Benham, London., Pp. 1–28, Pls. 1–10. 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:467YG. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.