''Nemichthys curvirostris'', the boxer snipe eel, is a snipe eel of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Nemichthyidae Snipe eels are a family, Nemichthyidae, of eels that consists of nine species in three genera. They are pelagic fishes, found in every ocean, mostly at depths of but sometimes as deep as . Depending on the species, adults may reach in length, y ...

. Like other snipe eels, they have incredibly narrow and elongated bodies, and small fins.

Habitat

The eel lives at depths of up to 2,000 m. It has a probable global distribution.

Description

The length is up to . It has long, narrow fine-boned delicate jaws, which are curved, and have small hooked teeth for swiping crustaceans, zooplankton, and sea snow from the water column. This eel is extremely delicate at touch, with a somewhat smooth, slimy skin, and diminutive eyes which are positioned near the rear end of the jaws.

Biology

Feeds on

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

s like

amphipods Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far describ ...

, copepods, shrimp, and possibly also consumes fish eggs and sea snow. Reproduction is oviparous.

References

External links

''Nemichthys curvirostris'', boxer snipe eel 1 20 Feb. 2009 http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=9107. curvirostris Taxa named by Pehr Hugo Strömman Fish described in 1896 {{Anguilliformes-stub