finless eel
Apterichtus kendalli (Gilbert, 1891)
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
Apterichtus kendalli, the Western Atlantic finless eel or finless eel, is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). It was described by Charles Henry Gilbert in 1891. It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean, including North Carolina, USA; the western Bahamas, Venezuela, and St. Helena Island. It dwells at a depth range of 3 to 400 metres (9.8 to 1,312.3 ft), and forms burrows in sandy sediments on the continental shelf. Males can reach a maximum total length of 60 centimetres (24 in).
Due to a lack of known major threats to the species, the IUCN redlist currently lists the Western Atlantic finless eel as Least Concern.
Wikipedia contributors, Apterichtus kendalli; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:54:14.705514+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Apterichtus kendalli (Gilbert, 1891)
- Name authority
- (Gilbert, 1891)
- Common name
- finless eel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Ophichthidae
- Genus
- Apterichtus
- 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
- genusApterichtus Duméril, 1806
- speciesApterichtus kendalli (Gilbert, 1891)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Apterichtus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Apterichtus australis McCosker & Randall, 2005 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apterichtus jeffwilliamsi McCosker & Hibino, 2015 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apterichtus nanjilnaduensis Kodeeswaran, Ravinesh, Hibino & Saravanane, 2024 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apterichtus dunalailai McCosker & Hibino, 2015 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apterichtus flavicaudus (Snyder, 1904) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apterichtus klazingai (Weber, 1913) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apterichtus moseri (Jordan & Snyder, 1901) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apterichtus mysi McCosker & Hibino, 2015 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apterichtus nariculus McCosker & Hibino, 2015 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apterichtus orientalis Machida & Ohta, 1994 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Apterichtus succinus Hibino, McCosker & Kimura, 2016 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Sphagebranchus kendalli Gilbert, 1891 Gilbert, 1891 | synonym |
| Caecula kendalli (Gilbert, 1891) (Gilbert, 1891) | synonym |
| Verma kendalli (Gilbert, 1891) (Gilbert, 1891) | 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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=158598 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:FYHB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.