Shrimp Eel, Ophichthus gomesii

Shrimp Eel, Ophichthus gomesii. Fish caught from Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, July 2011. Length: 29 cm (11 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.

The Shrimp Eel, Ophichthus gomesii, is a member of the Snake Eel or Ophichthidae Family, and is known in Mexico as tieso camaronero. Globally, there are sixty-six species in the genus Ophichthus, of which nine are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and six in the Pacific Ocean.

The Shrimp Eel has an elongated, cylindrical, and snake-like body that tapers toward the tail. They are brown to gray dorsally and transition to a lighter color ventrally without additional markings. They lack a caudal fin and possess an external jugostegalia (basket-like structure of overlapping free rays) behind their head on the ventral side. They have a conical head, large eyes located over the rear of their large mouth, and small conical teeth. Their dorsal fin originates behind the gill slits. They have long and well-developed pectoral fins that are pointed to rounded. They do not have pelvic fins. Their tail is fleshy and ends in a blunt point; it is 62% to 65% of total length. They have a complete lateral line.

The Shrimp Eel is a demersal species that is found in bays and backwater over soft muddy bottoms as well as in and around rocky reefs at depths up to 460 m (1,500 feet). They reach a maximum of 91 cm (3 feet 0 inches) in length. They are night-time predators that take shelter during daylight hours. Reproduction is oviparous. The Shrimp Eel is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Shrimp Eel is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

The Shrimp Eel is straightforward to identify and cannot be easily confused with any other species.

From a conservation perspective, the Shrimp Eel is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are very abundant in some areas. They are caught as a by-catch of shrimp trawlers and normally discarded. They are of limited interest to most except to subsistence fishermen and are normally a catch and release.