Saddled Snake Eel, Leiuranus semicinctus (Lay & Bennett 1839)

Other Names: Banded Snake Eel, Culverin, Halfbanded Snake-eel

A Saddled Snake Eel, Leiuranus semicinctus, at the Meyer Islets, Kermadec Islands, New Zealand, depth 24m, Mar 2013. Source: Irene Middleton / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

A distinctly banded white to pale yellowish snake eel usually with 22-30 evenly-spaced dark saddles along the body that are equal in width or wider than pale interspaces, and do not extend to the ventral midline (except those on the rear of the tail). The species has a stiff pointed tail, and the dorsal fin originates above or just behind the gill opening.
Video of a Saddled Snake Eel in New Caledonia, 2011, depth 1 m.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2021, Leiuranus semicinctus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 17 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/2896

Saddled Snake Eel, Leiuranus semicinctus (Lay & Bennett 1839)

More Info

Distribution	Ningaloo Reef and offshore reefs of NW Western Australia, Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, the Northern Territory, and the far northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, and reefs in the Coral Sea to Julian Rocks, New South Wales; also Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean, and Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific. Inhabits sandy areas and seagrass beds of both lagoon and seaward reefs, and is sometimes seen foraging for prey during the day.
Features	Vertebrae 162-171. Head length 12-15 in TL; body depth 35-60 in TL; preanal length 2.1-2.3 in TL; snout pointed, mouth inferior, upper lip not fringed with cirri; anterior nostrils lacking conspicuous leaf-like appendages; eye relatively large, positioned above middle of gape; intermaxilla with about five nearly recumbent, small canine teeth in ventral groove beneath snout; remaining teeth in jaws small and uniserial; vomer with 0-3 small teeth. Dorsal fin origin above or slightly posterior to gill opening; pectoral fins reduced, about the size of the gill opening.
Colour	Whitish to pale yellow with 22–30 broad, black saddle-like bars along the body, width of saddles equal to or greater than width of pale interspaces; only saddles on rear of tail extending to ventral midline.
Feeding	Feeds on bottom-dwelling fishes and crustaceans.
Remarks	When threatened, the Saddled Snake Eel rapidly burrows backwards into the sand with its stiff pointed tail.
Similar Species	Differs from similar species in having evenly-spaced dark saddles along the body, an inferior mouth, a small pectoral fin about the size of the gill opening, the dorsal-fin originating above the gill opening, and 0-3 vomerine teeth in a medial row.
Etymology	The specific name semicinctus is from the Latin semi (= half) and cinctus (= girdle, belt) in reference to the dark saddles along the body that do not reach the ventral midline: “fascia-like patches of dark-brown, which do not surround the body, but are interrupted on the under surface” (Lay & Bennett 1839).
Species Citation	Ophisurus semicinctus Lay & Bennett 1839, The Zoology of Captain Beechey's voyage: 66, pl.20 (fig.4). Type locality: Oahu? Hawaiian Islands.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2021
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Saddled Snake Eel, Leiuranus semicinctus (Lay & Bennett 1839)

References

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