Species: Ethadophis byrnei, Ordinary snake-eel

Ethadophis byrnei Rosenblatt and McCosker, 1970

Ordinary snake-eel

Very elongate, body depth at anus 1.3% of TL; head compressed; body cylindrical at front, compressed at rear; tail 49% of TL; snout rounded, overhanging well beyond lower jaw, which, ends well behind front nostrils, without a median longitudinal groove on underside; front nostril a short tube near tip of snout, rear nostril inside mouth just before eye, in a short tube with a front flap; eye small, over center of mouth; teeth small, conical, pointed, in single series on jaws and roof of mouth, a V of central front teeth exposed under overhanging snout; gill openings crescent shaped, vertical, low on sides, widely separated under throat; gill pouch expanded; dorsal and anal fins forming ridges below the skin; dorsal fin origin on head, < 1 snout length before gill opening; no pectorals; tip of tail finless, blunt and fleshy, dorsal and anal fin rays join tail fin rays underneath skin of tail; skin smooth, with papillae on front of head and tip of tail; lateral line from head to near tip of tail, line arches upward between each pore; 189 vertebrae.

Color in life pink, finely speckled with black dots; grey with a white dorsal fin ridge when preserved.

Length 51cm.

Depth 0-3 m.

Habitat: Intertidal sand flat.

Known only from the holotype collected in the NE Gulf of California.