The leopard eel (''Myrichthys pardalis'') is an

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

in the worm or snake eels family,

Ophichthidae Ophichthidae is a family of fish in the order Anguilliformes, commonly known as the snake eels. The term "Ophichthidae" comes from Greek ''ophis'' ("serpent") and ''ichthys'' ("fish"). Snake eels are also burrowing eels. They are named for thei ...

.Common names of ''Myrichthys pardalis''
at www.fishbase.org.
at www.fishbase.org. It was described by Achille Valenciennes in 1839, originally under the genus ''

Ophisurus ''Ophisurus'' is a genus of eels in the snake eel family Ophichthidae. It currently contains the following species: * '' Ophisurus macrorhynchos'' Bleeker, 1853 * '' Ophisurus serpens'' (Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 Ja ...

''.Valenciennes, A., 1837-44 ef. 4502''Ichthyologie des îles Canaries, ou histoire naturelle des poissons rapportés par Webb & Berthelot.'' In: P. B. Webb & S. Berthelot. Histoire naturelle des îles Canaries. Paris, 1835-1850. v. 2 (pt 2): 1-109, 26 pls. Male leopard eels can reach a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of . It is of minor commercial interest to fisheries. It is a marine,

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

eel, which is known from the eastern

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, including the Canary Islands;

Annobón Island Annobón ( es, Provincia de Annobón; pt, Ano-Bom), and formerly as ''Anno Bom'' and ''Annabona'', is a province (smallest province in both area and population) of Equatorial Guinea consisting of the island of Annobón, formerly also Pigalu an ...

, Equatorial Guinea, and

São Tomé Island São Tomé Island, at , is the largest island of São Tomé and Príncipe and is home in May 2018 to about 193,380 or 96% of the nation's population. The island is divided into six districts. It is located 2 km (1¼ miles) north of the equ ...

. It forms burrows in coarse sand sediments on rocky island coasts. The species is also found in the western Atlantic Ocean. The leopard eel's diet consists of benthic

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordat ...

.Food items reported for ''Myrichthys pardalis''
at www.fishbase.org.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2204706 leopard eel Fish of the East Atlantic Fauna of the Canary Islands Fish of Equatorial Guinea Fauna of Annobón Fauna of São Tomé Island Marine fauna of West Africa leopard eel