blotched snake eel
Callechelys muraena Jordan & Evermann, 1887
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 muraena, the blotched snake eel, is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). It was described by David Starr Jordan and Barton Warren Evermann in 1887. It is a rare tropical, marine eel which is known from the western and northwestern Atlantic Ocean, including the United States (North Carolina to Florida), the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Canada. It dwells at a depth range of 27–115 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 60 centimetres.
Wikipedia contributors, Callechelys muraena; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:15:51.039650+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Callechelys muraena Jordan & Evermann, 1887
- Name authority
- Jordan & Evermann, 1887
- Common name
- blotched 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 muraena Jordan & Evermann, 1887
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 |
| marbled snake eelCallechelys marmorata (Bleeker, 1854) | 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.
- Jordan, D. S., & Evermann, B. W. (1887). Description of six new species of fishes from the Gulf of Mexico, with notes on other species. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, v. 9 (no. 586): 466–476. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.9-586.466 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:PL3F. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.