Pacific worm eel

The Pacific worm eel (Myrophis vafer, also known commonly as the worm eel in the United Kingdom[2]) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels).[3] It was described by David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert in 1883.[4] It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including California, USA, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, and Peru.[5] It dwells at a depth range of 1 to 12 metres (3.3 to 39.4 ft), and inhabits sand and mud sediments. Unlike many species of eel, it does not form burrows. Males can reach a maximum total length of 46 centimetres (1 ft 6 in).[3]

Pacific worm eel
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Ophichthidae
Genus: Myrophis
Species:
M. vafer
Binomial name
Myrophis vafer
Jordan & Charles Henry GilbertCharles Henry GilbertGilbert, 1883
Synonyms[1]
  • Hesperomyrus fryi Myers & Storey, 1939

Young Pacific worm eels are drawn to lights at the sea's surface.[3] Due to its wide distribution, lack of known major threats and lack of observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists the species as Least Concern.[5]

References
  1. Synonyms of Myrophis vafer at www.fishbase.org.
  2. Common names of Myrophis vafer at www.fishbase.org.
  3. Myrophis vafer at www.fishbase.org.
  4. Jordan, D. S. and C. H. Gilbert, 1883 (29 May) [ref. 10616] Description of two new species of fishes (Myrophis vafer and Chloroscombrus orqueta) from Panama. Proceedings of the United States National Museum v. 5 (no. 334): 645-647.
  5. Myrophis vafer at the IUCN redlist.
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