| Ophisternon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Bengal eel (O. bengalense) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Division: | Teleostei |
| Order: | Synbranchiformes |
| Family: | Synbranchidae |
| Subfamily: | Synbranchinae |
| Genus: | Ophisternon McClelland, 1844 |
| Type species | |
| Ophisternon bengalensis McClelland, 18441
| |
| Species | |
|
see text | |
| Synonyms2 | |
Ophisternon is a genus of swamp eels found in fresh and brackish waters in South and Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, Middle America and West Africa.3 Two species are blind cave-dwellers.4
Well-preserved fossil remains of an Ophisternon sp. are known from the early Pleistocene-aged Laguna Formation of the Philippines, representing the oldest known fossil record of this genus.5
Species
There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:36
- Ophisternon aenigmaticum D. E. Rosen & Greenwood, 1976 (Obscure swamp eel)
- Ophisternon afrum (Boulenger, 1909) (Guinea swamp eel)
- Ophisternon bengalense McClelland, 1844 (Bengal eel)
- Ophisternon candidum (Mees, 1962) (Blind cave eel)
- Ophisternon gutturale (J. Richardson, 1845) (Australian swamp eel)
- Ophisternon infernale (C. L. Hubbs, 1938) (Blind swamp eel)
- Ophisternon berlini (J. Arroyave, 2024) (Berlin's bloodworm eel) 6
References
References
- Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Ophisteron". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Synbranchidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Ophisternon". FishBase. May 2017 version.
- Romero, A., editor (2001). The Biology of Hypogean Fishes. Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes. ISBN 978-1402000768
- Přikryl, Tomáš; Castro, Abigael; Fernando, Allan Gil; Nogot, Jaan Ruy Conrad; Magtoto, Clarence; Garas, Kevin; Mediodia, Dominique; Lin, Chien-Hsiang (2025-01-16). "Fossil fish assemblage of the Laguna Formation, Philippines: unveiling the uniqueness of Pleistocene freshwater ecosystems in Southeast Asia". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 144 (1): 5. doi:10.1186/s13358-024-00347-0. ISSN 1664-2384.
- Arroyave, Jairo; Angulo, Arturo; Mar-Silva, Adán Fernando; Stiassny, Melanie L. J. (2024-10-02). "A New Endogean, Dwarf, and Troglomorphic Species of Swamp Eel of the Genus Ophisternon (Synbranchiformes: Synbranchidae) from Costa Rica: Evidence from Comparative Mitogenomic and Anatomical Data". Ichthyology & Herpetology. 112 (3). doi:10.1643/i2024055. ISSN 2766-1512.