Worm Eels, Ophichthidae, are specialized burrowing Eels found in tropical and temperate marine environments from depths of about 750 m to the tidal shallows, with some species being found in rivers and other freshwater habitats. Worm Eels generally lack fins, having lost them as an adaptation to a burrowing lifestyle, though some species have secondarily returned to a pelagic (free-swiming) mode of life.
In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 24 December 2015, Yusuke Hibino and Seishi Kimura of the Fisheries Research Laboratory at Mie University describe a new species of Worm Eel from museum specimens collected at a number of sites cross the Indo-Pacific Region.
The new species is placed in the genus Muraenichthys and given the specific name velinasalis, meaning 'veiled nostril'; members of the genus Muraenichthys have two pairs of nostrils, the second of which is covered by a pair of large flaps in Muraenichthys velinasalis. The species is described from five specimens, originally collected from Taiwan, Vanuatu, Queensland, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. All were found in tidal pools or around coral reefs at depths of less than 30 m.
Preserved specimen of Muraenichthys velinasalis, 281 mm TL. A, position of anus; D, origin of dorsal fin. Hibino & Kimura (2015).
See also...
Neenchelys andamanensis: A new species of Worm Eel from the Andaman Sea. Worm Eels of the genus
Neenchelys are small
burrowing Eels found in the Indian ans Pacific Oceans. There are
currently about ten...
Neenchelys gracilis: A new species of Worm Eel from Taiwan. Worm Eels, Ophichthidae, are burrowing Eels found...
Japanese Eel classified as Endangered. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature published its annual update of its Red List of Threatened Species
on Thursday 12 June 2014, marking the 50th year of the list's
existence, and revising the status of a number of Plant and Animal
species from around...
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