Basketweave Cusk-eel, Ophidion scrippsae

Basketweave Cusk-eel, Ophidion scrippsae. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen in the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, November 2010. Length: 26 cm (10 inches). Identification courtesy of H.J. Walker, Jr., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, LaJolla, CA and reconfirmed by Dr. Robert N. Lea, Monterey, California.

The Basketweave Cusk Eel, Ophidion scrippsae, is a member of the Cusk Eel or Ophidiidae Family, and is known in Mexico as congriperla canastera. Globally, there are twenty-seven species in the genus Ophidion, of which seven are found in Mexican waters, two in the Atlantic and five in the Pacific Ocean.

The Basketweave Cusk-eel has an elongated body that tapers towards the rear. They are olive-brown in color and are lighter ventrally. They have dark lines along their scales that produce a crisscross pattern, reminiscent of a basket weave. Their anal and dorsal fins are pale with black margins. Their heads are compressed (22% of standard length) and feature large eyes and a large mouth. Their top profile is convex. Their snout has a bony process and does not overhang the mouth. A key to identification is the gill raker count: there are 6 to 11 in total with the lower 4 to 8 being longer. Their anal and dorsal fin bases are long and continuous with their pointed caudal fin; the dorsal fin is longer and originates before the anal fin. They have long pectoral fins that are equal to or slightly longer than their pelvic fins. Each pelvic fin is a two-rayed filament, with the thread-rays of unequal length and found under the throat. Their head is devoid of scales, however, their body is covered with small smooth scales.

The Basketweave Cusk-eel inhabits sandy and muddy bottoms and are found at depths up to 213 m (700 feet). They reach a maximum length of 28 cm (11 inches). They are rarely seen by humans because they hide in caves during the daytime and only emerge at night to feed on crustaceans, small clams, polychaete worms, and other invertebrates. The Basketweave Cusk-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 Basketweave Cusk-eel is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific but has a limited distribution being found only from Todos Santos, Baja California Sur,  northward along the the central and northwest coasts of Baja. The fish pictured above establishes the southern range for this species.

The Basketweave Cusk-eel is most likely confused with the Brighteye Cusk-eel, Ophidion iris (6 to 7 gill rakers, with the lower 4 to 5 being longer; pelvic fins 1.2 to 1.8 times longer than pectoral fins).

From a conservation perspective the Basketweave Cusk-eel is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are seldom seen by humans. They are obtained as a by-catch of deep water trawlers and by hook and line by commercial fishermen in the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, but are too rare and too small to be of commercial interest and are of limited interest to most.