thin snake eel
Ophichthus apachus McCosker & Rosenblatt, 1998
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 thin snake eel (Ophichthus apachus) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John E. McCosker and Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt in 1998. It is a marine, tropical eel known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Mexico and Colombia. It is known from two specimens observed dwelling in sand at a depth range of 0 to 8 m (0 to 26 ft). The maximum length recorded was 23.1 cm (9.1 in), albeit on an immature specimen.
The species epithet apachus, meaning "without thickness" in Greek, refers to the eel's thin frame. Due to the extremely minimal number of known specimens, and insufficient statistical data derived from them, the IUCN Redlist currently lists the thin snake eel as Data Deficient.
Wikipedia contributors, Thin snake eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:05:28.045635+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ophichthus apachus McCosker & Rosenblatt, 1998
- Name authority
- McCosker & Rosenblatt, 1998
- Common name
- thin snake eel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Ophichthidae
- Genus
- Ophichthus
- 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
- genusOphichthus Ahl, 1789
- speciesOphichthus apachus McCosker & Rosenblatt, 1998
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ophichthus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ophichthus aniptocheilos McCosker, 2010 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| bluntnose snake-eelOphichthus apicalis (Anonymous [Bennett], 1830) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophichthus arneutes McCosker & Rosenblatt, 1998 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophichthus celebicus (Bleeker, 1856) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophichthus congroides McCosker, 2010 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophichthus cylindroideus (Ranzani, 1839) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophichthus erabo (Jordan & Snyder, 1901) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophichthus fowleri (Jordan & Evermann, 1903) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophichthus grandoculis (Cantor, 1849) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophichthus humanni McCosker, 2010 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophichthus ishiyamorum McCosker, 2010 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophichthus kunaloa McCosker, 1979 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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.
- McCosker, J. E., & Rosenblatt, R. H. (1998). A revision of the Eastern Pacific snake-eel genus Ophichthus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) with the description of six new species. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 50. 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:49VG2. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.