Species: Pythonichthys asodes, Pacific mud-eel

Pythonichthys asodes Rosenblatt & Rubinoff, 1972

Pacific mud-eel

Body moderately elongate, circular in cross-section at front;  tail ~ 75% of TL, with tip at lower edge; a long blunt head (25-33% of body length), with a low skin ridge on side of snout before eye; tiny, skin-covered eyes; front nostril round, with a raised rim, rear nostril a slit just before and above eye; mouth 25-33% of head length, extends well past eye, with more or less equal jaws, with a pair of fleshy folds on its roof and papillae on top lip before front nostril; teeth in 2-3 rows on upper jaws, continuous with those on roof of mouth; no pectoral fin; gill openings are crescents low on the body; dorsal and anal fins low and confluent with the tail; dorsal fin origin over the gill opening;  no lateral line; no scales.

Tan to red-brown, with black fins.

Size: 54 cm.

Habitat: mud, estuarine/marine.

Depth: 7-30 m.

SE Gulf of California to Panama.