sandy ridgefin eel
Callechelys cliffi Böhlke & Briggs, 1954
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
Callechelys cliffi, the sandy ridgefin eel, is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). It was described by James Erwin Böhlke and John Carmon Briggs in 1954. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central Pacific Ocean, including Mexico and Panama. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 30 metres (0 to 98 ft), and inhabits sand sediments. Males can reach a maximum standard length of 45.5 centimetres (17.9 in).
The species epithet "cliffi" refers to Frank S. Cliff. Due to there being an extremely limited number of known specimens, and thereby a lack of information on the species' distribution and population, threats and habitat requirements, the IUCN redlist currently lists the Sandy ridgefin eel as Data Deficient.
Wikipedia contributors, Callechelys cliffi; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:15:58.801388+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Callechelys cliffi Böhlke & Briggs, 1954
- Name authority
- Böhlke & Briggs, 1954
- Common name
- sandy ridgefin eel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Ophichthidae
- Genus
- Callechelys
- 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
- genusCallechelys Kaup, 1856
- speciesCallechelys cliffi Böhlke & Briggs, 1954
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Callechelys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Callechelys catostoma (Schneider, 1801) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Callechelys kuro (Kuroda, 1947) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| twostripe snake eelCallechelys bilinearis Kanazawa, 1952 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Callechelys bitaeniata (Peters, 1877) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| spotted ridgefin eelCallechelys eristigma McCosker & Rosenblatt, 1972 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| marbled snake eelCallechelys marmorata (Bleeker, 1854) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blotched snake eelCallechelys muraena Jordan & Evermann, 1887 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| ridgefin eelCallechelys springeri (Ginsburg, 1951) | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Callechelys maculatus Chu, Wu & Jin, 1981 | 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.
- Böhlke, J. E., & Briggs, J. C. (1954). Callechelys cliffi, a new ophichthid eel from the Gulf of California. Stanford Ichthyological Bulletin, 4 (4): 275–278. 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:PL2V. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.