| Echelus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Echelus pachyrhynchus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Anguilliformes |
| Family: | Ophichthidae |
| Subfamily: | Ophichthinae |
| Genus: | Echelus Rafinesque, 1810 |
| Type species | |
| Echelus punctatus Rafinesque, 18101
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| Synonyms | |
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Echelus is a genus of eels in the snake-eel family Ophichthidae. Fossils belonging to this genus date back to the Early Eocene.2
Species
There are currently 4 recognized species in this genus:
- Echelus myrus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Painted eel)
- Echelus pachyrhynchus (Vaillant, 1888)
- Echelus polyspondylus J. E. McCosker & H. C. Ho, 2015 (Many-vertebrae snake eel) 3
- Echelus uropterus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846) (Finned snake eel)
The following fossil species are also known:2
- †Echelus arcuatus Radwanska, 1984 - Middle Miocene of Poland [otolith]
- †Echelus branchialis (Woodward, 1901) - Early Eocene of England
- †Echelus contractus Stinton, 1975 - Middle Eocene of England [otolith]
- †Echelus dolloi (Storms, 1896) - Middle Eocene of Belgium (=Eomyrus)
References
References
- Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Ophichthidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- Young, Sally V. T.; Williams, R. J. (2008). "New information on the cranial anatomy of the eel genus Echelus Rafinesque, 1810 (Ophichthidae: Anguilliformes) from the Early Eocene". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 295 (1): 311–336. doi:10.1144/SP295.15. ISSN 0305-8719.
- McCosker, J.E. & Ho, H.-C. (2015). "New species of the snake eels Echelus and Ophichthus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from Taiwan" (PDF). Zootaxa. 4060 (1): 71–85. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4060.1.11. PMID 26701593.