Giant Snake Eel
Ophisurus serpens
Sharptail Eel
Myrichthys breviceps
About
The sharptail eel is a slender, sand-loving eel of the Caribbean's reefs and seagrass beds. It tolerates a close approach, giving divers an easy look before it slips tail-first into the sand.
How to tell it apart
Other snake-eels in the same waters have a similar shape, but few carry spots that grow noticeably bigger from head to tail. That change in spot size is the giveaway for this species.
Appearance
This eel has a long, slim, snake-like body with a blue-grey back and a white belly. Small yellow spots dot its head, growing larger and more spread out along the rest of its body.
Did you know?
Though mainly active at night, this eel is often spotted hunting crabs in daylight too, then vanishing into the sand the moment a diver gets too close.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
