Sooty eel

The sooty eel[2] (Bascanichthys bascanium) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels).[3] It was described by David Starr Jordan in 1884, originally under the genus Caecula.[4] It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from the western Atlantic Ocean, including North Carolina and Florida, USA, and the Gulf of Mexico. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 27 metres (0 to 89 ft). Males can reach a maximum total length of 70 centimetres (2.3 ft).[3]

Sooty eel
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Anguilliformes
Family:
Ophichthidae
Genus:
Bascanichthys
Species:
B. bascanium
Binomial name
Bascanichthys bascanium
(Jordan, 1884)
Synonyms[1]
  • Caecula bascanium Jordan, 1884
  • Leptocephalus gilberti Eigenmann & Kennedy, 1902

The sooty eel is preyed on by the Atlantic tripletail.[5]

References
  1. Synonyms of Bascanichthys bascanium at www.fishbase.org.
  2. Common names of Bascanichthys bascanium at www.fishbase.org.
  3. Bascanichthys bascanium at www.fishbase.org.
  4. Jordan, D. S., 1884 (22 Apr.) [ref. 10442] List of fishes from Egmont Key, Florida, in the Museum of Yale College, with description of two new species. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia v. 36: 42-46.
  5. Organisms Preying on Bascanichthys bascanium at www.fishbase.org.


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