blunt-toothed snake eel
Pisodonophis daspilotus Gilbert, 1898
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.
Pisodonophis daspilotus Gilbert. Type specimen; Panama Subject: Eels, Pisodonophis Tag: Fish
Charles Henry Gilbert · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Marble-toothed snake-eel (Pisodonophis daspilotus, also known as the Blunt-toothed snake eel) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). It was described by Charles Henry Gilbert in 1898. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador. It dwells in shallow waters at a maximum depth of 10 metres (33 ft), and inhabits sand and mud sediments and mangroves. Males can reach a maximum total length of 68 centimetres (27 in).
The IUCN redlist currently lists the Marble-toothed snake eel as Near Threatened, due to the decline in mangroves in its range of habitat. The population of the Marble-toothed snake eel is estimated to have declined by 25% over a course of 10–15 years.
Wikipedia contributors, Marble-toothed snake-eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:39:03.385030+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pisodonophis daspilotus Gilbert, 1898
- Name authority
- Gilbert, 1898
- Common name
- blunt-toothed snake eel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Ophichthidae
- Genus
- Pisodonophis
- 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
- genusPisodonophis Kaup, 1856
- speciesPisodonophis daspilotus Gilbert, 1898
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pisodonophis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| rice-paddy eelPisodonophis boro (Hamilton, 1822) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| longfin snake-eelPisodonophis cancrivorus (Richardson, 1848) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pisodonophis copelandi Herre, 1953 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pisodonophis semicinctus (Richardson, 1848) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pisodonophis hijala (Hamilton, 1822) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pisodonophis hoevenii (Bleeker, 1853) | OphichthidaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Pisoodonophis daspilotus Gilbert, 1898 Gilbert, 1898 | 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.
- Jordan, D. S., & Evermann, B. W. (1898). The fishes of North and Middle America: a descriptive catalogue of the species of fish-like vertebrates found in the waters of North America, north of the Isthmus of Panama. Part II. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, No. 47: i–xxx + 1241–2183. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.39717 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:4J8X9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.