Apterichtus Explained

Apterichtus is a genus of fish in the family Ophichthidae (snake eels). Many of its species are called finless eels.

The name literally means "finless fish" in Greek, from (‘no-fins’ < privative a +) and (‘fish’).^[1]

Species

There are currently 18 recognized species in this genus:

• Apterichtus anguiformis (W. K. H. Peters, 1877) (Slender finless eel)
• Apterichtus ansp (J. E. Böhlke, 1968) (Academy finless eel)
• Apterichtus australis McCosker & J. E. Randall, 2005
• Apterichtus caecus (Linnaeus, 1758) (European finless eel)
• Apterichtus dunalailai McCosker & Hibino, 2015 ^[2]
• Apterichtus equatorialis (G. S. Myers & Wade, 1941) (Equatorial finless eel)
• Apterichtus flavicaudus (Snyder, 1904)
• Apterichtus gracilis (Kaup, 1856)
• Apterichtus hatookai Hibino, Shibata & Kimura, 2014 (Orange-blotched finless eel) ^[3]
• Apterichtus jeffwilliamsi McCosker & Hibino, 2015 ^[2]
• Apterichtus kendalli (C. H. Gilbert, 1891) (Western Atlantic finless eel)
• Apterichtus klazingai (M. C. W. Weber, 1913) (Sharp-snout finless eel)
• Apterichtus malabar McCosker & Hibino, 2015 ^[2]
• Apterichtus monodi (C. Roux, 1966)
• Apterichtus moseri (D. S. Jordan & Snyder, 1901)
• Apterichtus mysi McCosker & Hibino, 2015 ^[2]
• Apterichtus nariculus McCosker & Hibino, 2015 ^[2]
• Apterichtus orientalis Machida & Ohta, 1994
• Apterichtus succinus Hibino, McCosker & Kimura, 2016 ^[4]

Notes and References

1. Book: Eugenia B. Böhlke . etal . Orders Anguilliformes and Saccopharyngiformes: Part 9. 1. 2018. Yale University Press. 978-1-933789-19-4. 318. From the Greek (without fins) and ichtus (correctly written, fish)..
2. McCosker, J.E. & Hibino, Y. (2015): A review of the finless snake eels of the genus Apterichtus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae), with the description of five new species. Zootaxa, 3941 (1): 49–78.
3. Hibino, Y., Shibata, J.-y. & Kimura, S. (2014): Description of a new snake eel, Apterichtus hatookai sp. nov. (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae), from the Pacific coast of Japan. Ichthyological Research, 61 (4): 317-321.
4. Hibino, Y., McCosker, J.E. & Kimura, S. (2016): A new species of Apterichtus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from the Marquesas Islands. Zootaxa, 4117 (1): 146–150.