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Ophichthus urolophus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846)

Manetail snake eel
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Ophichthus urolophus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Ophichthus urolophus (Manetail snake eel)
Ophichthus urolophus
Picture by Winterbottom, R.


Philippines country information

Common names: Nipa-nipa
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Probable specimens were collected during the Hearst Expedition 2011 done off Batangas and Mindoro, off SW Luzon; needs further confirmation (Ref. 95664).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/rp.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: McManus, J.W., C.L. Nañola Jr., R.B. Reyes Jr. and K.N. Kesner, 1992
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Ophichthidae (Snake eels) > Ophichthinae
Etymology: Ophichthus: Greek, ophis = serpent + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335).
  More on authors: Temminck & Schlegel.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal.   Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 61.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 84366)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 134 - 139. This moderately elongate species of Ophichthus, subgenus Coecilophis is distinguished by the following characters: tail 53-58%, head 11-13% of total length and depth at gill opening 4.0-4.8% of TL; origin of dorsal-fin slightly behind pectoral-tips; pectoral fins spatulate, non-elongate and slightly less than length; large eyes, posterior margin of orbit ahead of rictus; posterior nostril a hole in upper lip and covered by a flap; small, inconspicuous head pores, SO 1+3, IO 4+2, POM 2-3+6-7 (usually 3+7); small, conical teeth, uniserial on mandible and vomer, few anterior teeth on maxillary; color tan on flanks and dorsum, pale ventrally, all fins and anterior nostrils pale, chin and snout dusky; mean vertebral formula 16.2/54.0/136.5, total vertebrae 134-139 (Ref. 84366).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Taken from great depths, rarely from shallow muddy bottoms. Feeds on benthic animals (Ref. 637).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : McCosker, John E. | Collaborators

Masuda, H., K. Amaoka, C. Araga, T. Uyeno and T. Yoshino, 1984. The fishes of the Japanese Archipelago. Vol. 1. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, Japan. 437 p. (text). (Ref. 559)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 02 December 2019

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
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Maturities
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Egg(s)
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BRUVS - Videos
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Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
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Aquaculture profiles
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References

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Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 4.7 - 19.9, mean 13.2 (based on 353 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00089 (0.00039 - 0.00204), b=3.00 (2.80 - 3.20), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.37 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (45 of 100).