Longneck eel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Longneck eels | ||||||||||
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Narrownecked Oceanic Eel, Derichthys serpentinus. From plate 49 of Oceanic Ichthyology by G. Brown Goode and Tarleton H. Bean, published 1896.
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Scientific classification | ||||||||||
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Genera | ||||||||||
Derichthys |
Longneck eels or neck eels are a family, Derichthyidae, of eels. They are pelagic fishes, found in the middle and depths of most oceans. The name comes from Greek deres meaning "neck" and ichthys meaning "fish".
There are three species in two genera:
- Genus Derichthys
- Narrownecked oceanic eel, Derichthys serpentinus Gill, 1884.
- Genus Nessorhamphus
- Nessorhamphus danae Schmidt, 1931.
- Duckbill oceanic eel, Nessorhamphus ingolfianus (Schmidt, 1912).
In some classifications (for example, Systema Naturae 2000) this family is split in two, with Derichthyidae containing only the genus Derichthys, and Nessorhamphus being assigned its own family, Nessorhamphidae.
[edit] References
- "Derichthyidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.