The snub-nosed spiny eel, ''Notacanthus chemnitzii'', is a member of the family
Notacanthidae
Notacanthidae, the deep-sea spiny eels, are a family of fishes found worldwide below , and as deep as . The earliest known spiny eel is '' Pronotacanthus sahelalmae'', from the Santonian of what is now Lebanon.
Their bodies are greatly elongate ...
, the deep-sea spiny eels, which are not true eels (
Anguilliformes
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 ...
). The snub-nosed spiny eel exists in waters all over the world, except in the tropics,
[Fishbase.org. 2005.]
Notacanthus chemnitzii Bloch, 1788
Retrieved on April 14, 2007. ranging in color from light tan to bluish grey in small ones to dark brown in large ones.
Its primary food is
sea anemone
Sea anemones are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates of the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classifi ...
s.
The eel usually lives in deep waters, mostly more than 200 m below the surface.
References
Notacanthidae
Fish described in 1788
{{Notacanthiformes-stub