sooty sand eel
Bascanichthys bascanoides Osburn & Nichols, 1916
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 Sooty sand-eel (Bascanichthys bascanoides) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). It was described by Raymond Carroll Osburn and John Treadwell Nichols in 1916. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central Pacific Ocean, including Costa Rica and Mexico. It is known to dwell at a maximum depth of 20 metres (66 ft), and inhabits sand sediments. Males can reach a maximum total length of 77 centimetres (30 in).
Due to a lack of known major threats to the species, the IUCN redlist currently lists the Sooty sand-eel as Least Concern.
Wikipedia contributors, Sooty sand-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
- Bascanichthys bascanoides Osburn & Nichols, 1916
- Name authority
- Osburn & Nichols, 1916
- Common name
- sooty sand eel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Ophichthidae
- Genus
- Bascanichthys
- 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
- genusBascanichthys Jordan & Davis, 1891
- speciesBascanichthys bascanoides Osburn & Nichols, 1916
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Bascanichthys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Bascanichthys deraniyagalai Menon, 1961 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bascanichthys myersi (Herre, 1932) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bascanichthys inopinatus McCosker, Böhlke & Böhlke, 1989 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bascanichthys ceciliae Blache & Cadenat, 1971 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bascanichthys fijiensis (Seale, 1935) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bascanichthys cylindricus Meek & Hildebrand, 1923 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bascanichthys gaira Moreno, Acero P. & Grijalba-Bendeck, 2016 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bascanichthys filaria (Günther, 1872) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bascanichthys longipinnis (Kner & Steindachner, 1867) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| whip eelBascanichthys scuticaris (Goode & Bean, 1880) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bascanichthys paulensis Storey, 1939 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| sooty eelBascanichthys bascanium (Jordan, 1884) | 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.
- Osburn, R. C.; Nichols J. T. (1916). Shore fishes collected by the “Albatross” expedition in Lower California, with descriptions of new species. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, v. 35 (art. 16): 139–181. 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:5WDCB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.