sailfin eel
Letharchus velifer Goode & Bean, 1882
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 American sailfin eel (Letharchus velifer, also known as the sailfin eel) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). It was described by George Brown Goode and Tarleton Hoffman Bean in 1882. It is a subtropical, marine eel which is known from the western Atlantic Ocean, including the United States (North Carolina and northeastern Florida) and the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. It frequently inhabits scallop grounds. Males can reach a maximum total length of 51 centimeters.
Wikipedia contributors, American sailfin eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:54:38.049309+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Letharchus velifer Goode & Bean, 1882
- Name authority
- Goode & Bean, 1882
- Common name
- sailfin eel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Ophichthidae
- Genus
- Letharchus
- 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
- genusLetharchus Goode & Bean, 1882
- speciesLetharchus velifer Goode & Bean, 1882
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Letharchus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| black sailfin eelLetharchus rosenblatti McCosker, 1974 | 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.
- Goode, G. B., & Bean, T. H. (1882). Descriptions of twenty-five new species of fish from the southern United States, and three new genera, Letharcus, Ioglossus, and Chriodorus. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, v. 5 (no. 297): 412–437. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.5-297.412 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:6PQK2. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.