Misol Snake Eel, Yirrkala misolensis (Günther 1872)
Misol Snake Eel, Yirrkala misolensis. Source: Ho, Hsuan-Ching / Institute of Marine Biology, National Done Hwa University, Taiwan. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Summary:
A pearl-yellow snake eel with the head and anterior body covered in an irregular brown spots and mottling. The rest of the body is brownish with whitish lateral-line pores, and a paler belly and median fins.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2024, Yirrkala misolensis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 13 Nov 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/3084
Misol Snake Eel, Yirrkala misolensis (Günther 1872)
More Info
Distribution |
Possibly off Flinders Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Elsewhere the species is widespread western Pacific: off southwestern Taiwan, Viet Nam, the Philippines, and Misol Island in Indonesia. Inhabits muddy areas at depths to 50 m. |
Features |
Snout pointed; dorsal fin extremely low, originating posterior to level of gill opening. |
Etymology |
The species is named for the type locality Misool Island (misspelled Misol), Irian Jaya, Indonesia. |
Species Citation |
Ophichthys misolensis Günther 1872, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 4 10(60): 426. Type locality: Misool (as Misol) Island, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. |
Author |
Bray, D.J. 2024 |
Resources |
Misol Snake Eel, Yirrkala misolensis (Günther 1872)
References
Chiu, Y.-C., Chen, H.-M. & Shao, K.-T. 2022. Additional description on morphology of the Misol snake eel from Taiwan, with four verified barcodes of life sequences. Zootaxa 5189(1): 114-121. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5189.1.13
Günther, A. 1872. On some new species of reptiles and fishes collected by J. Brenchley, Esq. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 4 10(60): 418-426. See ref at BHL
Hibino, Y. 2017. Family Ophichthidae, p. 35 in Motomura, H., Alama, U.B., Muto, N., Babaran, R.P. & Ishikawa, S. (eds). Commercial and Bycatch Market Fishes of Panay Island, Republic of the Philippines. Kagoshima, Japan : The Kagoshima University Museum.
McCosker, J.E. 1977. The osteology, classification, and relationships of the eel family Ophichthidae. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Series 4)41(1): 1-123. See ref at BHL
McCosker, J.E. 2011. Two new Indo-Pacific species of the sand-eel genus Yirrkala (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae). Smithiana, Publications in Aquatic Biodiversity, Bulletin 13: 45-50.
McCosker, J., Smith, D.G. & Tighe, K. 2022. Yirrkala misolensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T199261A2575957. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T199261A2575957.en. Accessed on 01 November 2024.
Smith, D.G. & McCosker, J.E. 1999. Family Ophichthidae. pp. 1662-1699 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds) The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 3 pp. 1397-2068.