About Ophichthus altipennis (Kaup, 1856)
Ophichthus altipennis (Kaup, 1856), commonly called the highfin snake eel, is also known as the blackfin snake eel or black-finned snake eel. It is a species of eel belonging to the family Ophichthidae. It was first described by Johann Jakob Kaup in 1856, and was originally classified under the genus Microdonophis.
This is a tropical marine eel. It is found in the eastern Indian Ocean, as well as the northwestern and western central Pacific Ocean. Known recorded locations include Australia, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Japan, the Marshall Islands, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. It inhabits waters from the surface down to a depth of 40 metres (131 feet), where it creates burrows in soft sand sediments in inshore areas. The maximum recorded total length for mature males of this species is 103 centimetres (41 inches).
Because the species has a wide distribution across the Pacific Ocean and no known threats have been identified, the IUCN Red List currently classifies the highfin snake eel as Least Concern.
