Cutthroat eels are a family, Synaphobranchidae, of eels, the only members of the suborder Synaphobranchoidei. They are found worldwide in temperate and tropical seas.[2][3]
Cutthroat eels | |
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Muddy arrowtooth eel, Ilyophis brunneus. From plate 43 of Oceanic Ichthyology by George Brown Goode and Tarleton Hoffman Bean, published 1896. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Anguilliformes |
Suborder: | Synaphobranchoidei |
Family: | Synaphobranchidae J. Y. Johnson, 1862 |
Genera[1] | |
Cutthroat eels range from 23 to 160 cm (9.1 to 63.0 in) in length. They are bottom-dwelling fish, found in deep waters down to about 3,700 m (12,100 ft).[4] They are distinguished by the presence of telescopic eyes in the larvae. In some classifications (for example, ITIS), this family is split, with Simenchelys in its own family, the Simenchelyidae.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Synaphobranchidae". FishBase. December 2012 version.
- ^ "eel | fish". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
- ^ "Marine Species Identification Portal : Cutthroat eels - Family Synaphobranchidae". species-identification.org. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
- ^ McCosker, John F. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 90. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.