marbled snake eel
Callechelys marmorata (Bleeker, 1854)
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 marmorata, also known as the marbled snake eel, is a benthic marine fish belonging to the family Ophichthidae which refers to serpentine in shape fishes.
The Marbled snake eel is a medium-sized fish which grows up to 87 cm.
It is widely distributed throughout the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, Red Sea included, to the western Pacific Ocean.
It inhabits the sandy and muddy bottoms close to coastal reefs, from 1 until 37 m in depth.
The Marbled snake eel has a nocturnal activity.
Wikipedia contributors, Callechelys marmorata; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:11:31.958635+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Callechelys marmorata (Bleeker, 1854)
- Name authority
- (Bleeker, 1854)
- Common name
- marbled snake 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 marmorata (Bleeker, 1854)
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 |
| sandy ridgefin eelCallechelys cliffi Böhlke & Briggs, 1954 | OphichthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| spotted ridgefin eelCallechelys eristigma McCosker & Rosenblatt, 1972 | 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 |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Pisodonophis maculatus Kaup, 1856 Kaup, 1856 | synonym |
| Dalophis marmorata Bleeker, 1854 Bleeker, 1854 | synonym |
| Ophichthys marmoratus (Bleeker, 1854) (Bleeker, 1854) | synonym |
| Callechelys guichenoti Kaup, 1856 Kaup, 1856 | synonym |
| Callechelys marmoratus (Bleeker, 1854) (Bleeker, 1854) | 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=217565 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:PL3B. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.