Myrichthys colubrinus, Harlequin snake eel

Myrichthys colubrinus (Boddaert, 1781)

Harlequin snake eel
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2100
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Myrichthys colubrinus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Videos | Google image
Image of Myrichthys colubrinus (Harlequin snake eel)
Myrichthys colubrinus
Picture by Honeycutt, K.

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

Actinopteri (ray-finned fishes) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Ophichthidae (Snake eels) > Ophichthinae
Etymology: Myrichthys: Greek, myros, -ou = male of morey eel + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335).

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

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 35 m (Ref. 89972). Tropical; 30°N - 30°S

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

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea south to Delagoa Bay, Mozambique and east to the Society Islands, French Polynesia. Often confused with Laticuda colubrina (Ref. 9710).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 97.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 37816)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 190 - 202. Broadly banded with black and white, sometimes with blotches, but may comprise additional species (Ref. 48635). Superficially resembles the venomous sea snake Laticauda colubrina, but is entirely harmless.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults occur in shallow sandy flats and seagrass beds (Ref. 1602, 48635, 58302). Benthic (Ref. 58302). Feeds on small fishes and crustaceans (Ref. 89972). Commonly seen hunting during the day (Ref. 48635).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

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

McCosker, J.E. and P.H.J. Castle, 1986. Ophichthidae. p. 176-186. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. (Ref. 3972)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 125652)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 25 - 29.3, mean 28.3 °C (based on 3362 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5005   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00102 (0.00045 - 0.00234), b=2.97 (2.77 - 3.17), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Subfamily-BS (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (59 of 100) .
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):   (0 of 100) .
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 38.5 [22.3, 63.7] mg/100g ; Iron = 0.478 [0.305, 0.756] mg/100g ; Protein = 19.7 [17.5, 22.0] % ; Omega3 = 0.115 [0.055, 0.298] g/100g ; Selenium = 55.3 [31.8, 101.5] μg/100g ; VitaminA = 34.4 [10.1, 108.1] μg/100g ; Zinc = 0.979 [0.688, 1.344] mg/100g (wet weight);