Author: Peters, 1877

Apterichthus anguiformis Peters, 1877

Diagnosis: body very elongate, snake-like, cylindrical; anus slightly anterior to midbody. Snout pointed; lower jaw symphysis nearer to anterior border of eye than to snout tip. Eye minute, under skin. Anterior nostril opening as a short tube on underside of snout; posterior nostril an ovate slit over upper lip and below lower edge of eye. Teeth conical, acute, slightly curved, uniserial in both jaws; 5 premaxillary teeth forming a V and some small teeth in a single line along vomer. Gill openings latero-ventral, crescentiform. Fins totally absent, caudal extremity hardened. Lateral line with 71-72 preanal pores, 5-6 prebranchial; 3 supra-temporal pores. Vertebrae: total 150-157; abdomina] 75-79. Colour: reddish or brownish, tip of jaws black, belly whitish. sometimes a large number of small darker patches on back and uppe side. Size: to 60 cm.

Habitat: benthic on the shelf, burrowing in sand or mud at 10-40 m. Food: no data. Reproduction: very few data; spawning in May-June in Mediterranean, eggs 3-3.6 mm diameter.

Distribution: Balearic Is., Nice and probably all western Mediterranean eastern Atlantic probably from Morocco southward to Cape Verde archipelago.

Eggs, larvae and young stages. See Apterichthus caecus (Linnaeus, 1758).
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Osteichthyes
Order Anguilliformes
Family Ophichthidae
Genus Apterichthus
Species Apterichthus anguiformis

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Synonym of Apterichtus anguiformis (Peters, 1877)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Apterichthus anguiformis Peters, 1877

Synonyms:

Verma anguiformis Peters, 1877b
Ophichthys (Sphagebranchus) anguiformis Peters, 1876 [1877], Mber. Akad.Wiss. Berlin: 849 (15°40'01''N., 23°05'08 W., Cape Verde Islands). Holotype: ZMHU no. 9777.
Sphagebranchus caecus: Moreau, 1881, 3: 588.
Caecula caeca: Lozano Rey, 1947: 566, pl. 10 (fig. 3).


Common name:

slender finless eel [En]

Lozano y Rey, L. 1947. Peces Ganoideos y Fisostomos, Mems R. Acad. Cienc. exact. fis. nat. Madr., ser.: Cienc. Nat., 11: xv+839 p., 190 fig., 20 pl.

Moreau, E. 1881-1891. Histoire naturelle des poissons de la France, Paris, I, 1881: I-VII+ 1-480, fig. 1-82; II, 1881: 1-572, fig. 83-145; III, 1881: 1-697, fig. 146-220; Suppl., 1891: 1-144, fig. 221-227.

Peters, W. C. H. 1877b. Über die von Dr. Reinhold Buchholz in Westafrika gesammelten Fische. Mber. dt. Akad. Wiss., Berl., 1876 [1877]: 244-252, 1 pl.

You can continue searching for Apterichthus anguiformis on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

Google | Yahoo | MSN | Wikipedia