Vulture sand eel

The Vulture sand eel (Ichthyapus vulturis, also known as the Vulture eel[2]) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels).[3] It was described by Max Carl Wilhelm Weber and Lieven Ferdinand de Beaufort in 1916, originally under the genus Sphagebranchus.[4] It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific, including Mascarenes, Pitcairn, Japan, Australia, Micronesia, and Easter Island. It dwells in inshore waters at a depth range of 2 to 18 metres (6.6 to 59.1 ft), and forms burrows in soft, sandy sediments.[3]

Vulture sand eel
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Ophichthidae
Genus: Ichthyapus
Species:
I. vulturis
Binomial name
Ichthyapus vulturis
(Weber & de Beaufort, 1916)
Synonyms[1]
  • Sphagebranchus vulturis Weber & de Beaufort, 1916
  • Ichthyapus vulturus (Weber & de Beaufort, 1916)

The Vulture sand eel's diet consists of bony fish.[5]

References
  1. Synonyms of Ichthyapus vulturis at www.fishbase.org.
  2. Common names of Ichthyapus vulturis at www.fishbase.org.
  3. Ichthyapus vulturis at www.fishbase.org.
  4. Weber, M. and L. F. de Beaufort, 1916 [ref. 4604] The fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. III. Ostariophysi: II Cyprinoidea, Apodes, Synbranchi. E. J. Brill, Leiden. v. 3: i-xv + 1-455.
  5. Food items reported for Ichthyapus vulturis at www.fishbase.org.


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