yellow snake eel

Open encyclopedia reference

The yellow snake eel (Ophichthus zophochir, also known as the charmed snake eel) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert in 1882. It is a marine, subtropical eel known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and the United States. It dwells at a depth range of 1 to 110 m (3.3 to 360.9 ft), and forms burrows in rocky and sandy regions. Males can reach a maximum total length of 98 cm (39 in), but more commonly reach a length of 50 cm (20 in).

The species epithet zophochir, derived from the Greek term for "dark hand", refers to the dark colouring of the eel's pectoral fin. Its diet consists of bony fish and clams. Due to its wide distribution in the eastern Pacific, lack of known threats, and lack of observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists the yellow snake-eel as Least Concern.

Wikipedia contributors, Yellow snake eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:08:10.512554+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Ophichthus zophochir Jordan & Gilbert, 1882

Name authority

Jordan & Gilbert, 1882

Common name

yellow 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.

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. subfamilyOphichthinae Günther, 1870
13. genusOphichthus Ahl, 1789
14. speciesOphichthus zophochir Jordan & Gilbert, 1882

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 283 records assigned to Ophichthidae.

Names & synonyms

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

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., & Gilbert, C. H. (1882). Descriptions of thirty-three new species of fishes from Mazatlan, Mexico. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, v. 4 (no. 237): 338–365. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.4-237.338 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:49VKF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.