Panama sand-eel

Panama sand-eel
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Ophichthidae
Genus: Bascanichthys
Species: B. panamensis
Binomial name
Bascanichthys panamensis
Meek & Hildebrand, 1923

The Panama sand-eel (Bascanichthys panamensis, also known as the Panamic sand-eel in Mexico[1]) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels).[2] It was described by Seth Eugene Meek and Samuel Frederick Hildebrand in 1923.[3] It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of California, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua. It dwells at a maximum depth of 30 metres (98 ft), and inhabits sandy sediments, sometimes in estuaries and mangroves.[4] Males can reach a maximum total length of 76 centimetres (30 in).[2]

The IUCN redlist currently lists the Panama sand-eel as Least Concern, due to a lack of major threats and observed population decline. It notes, however, that coastal development in its range could prove problematic for the species.[4]

References

  1. Common names of Bascanichthys panamensis at www.fishbase.org.
  2. 1 2 Bascanichthys panamensis at www.fishbase.org.
  3. Meek, S. E. and S. F. Hildebrand, 1923 (20 Dec.) [ref. 2963] The marine fishes of Panama. Part I. Field Museum of Natural History, Publications, Zoölogical Series v. 15 (publ. 215): i-xi + 1-330, Pls. 1-24.
  4. 1 2 Bascanichthys panamensis at the IUCN redlist.
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