Sharptail Eel, Myrichthys breviceps

Sharptail Eel, Myrichthys breviceps. Underwater photographs taken in coastal waters off Bonaire, December 2019. Photographs courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

The Sharptail Eel, Myrichthys breviceps, is a member of the Snake Eel or Ophichthidae Family, that is also known as the Seasnake and the Sharptail Snake Eel and in Mexico as tieso afilado. Globally, there are ten species in the genus Myrichthys,  of which four are found in Mexican waters, two in the Atlantic and two in the Pacific Ocean.

The Sharptail Eel has an elongated cylindrical body that tapers and become compressed toward the tail. Their body is dark brown to green in color that is covered with large round pales spots with yellow centers; their head has a dark background and is covered with small yellow spots. Their head is conical with a short blunt snout, and mid-sized eyes. Their teeth are blunt set in multiple rows on the jaws and the roof of the mouth. Their dorsal fin originates before the gill openings and the pectoral fins are small and short with a broad base. Their tail, which has a blunt, hard, and finless tip, is 58 to 63% of body length. They do not have scales.

The Sharptail Eel is within shallow grass beds and sand and coral rubble bottoms at a depth up to 123 m (400 feet). They reach a maximum of 1.02 m (3 feet 4 inches) in length. They can be found in protected clear waters during the day swimming slowly in shallow coastal waters are as lie-in-wait ambush predators with only their heads showing above sand or within reef structure. They feed primarily on carbs, crustaceans and small fishes. The Sharptail Eel is 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 Sharptail Eel is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean but it has a limited distribution being found in the coastal area around Tuxpan, Tamaulipas in the Gulf of Mexico and along the east coast of the Yucatán in the Caribbean.

The Sharptail Eel can be confused with the Blackspotted Snake Eel, Quassiremus ascensionis (head densely covered with small dark spots) and the Goldspotted Eel, Myrichthys ocellatus (pale background and covered with dark ringed gold spots).

From a conservation perspective the Sharptail Eel is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are not fished commercially and are of limited interest to most. They are encountered by divers fairly frequently and of course can be visually intimidating.