Species: Paraletharchus pacificus, Pacific sailfin-eel
Paraletharchus pacificus (Osburn & Nichols, 1916)
Pacific sailfin-eel
Body elongate, compressed; eye relatively large: diameter = ½ length of lower jaw, 5.4-7.1% of head length; head and trunk longer than tail; front nostril tubular, down pointing, under snout; rear nostril a slit in upper lip just before eye; jaw teeth small, pointed and close set and in single rows; gill openings below, converging anteriorly; gill chamber a large inflated pouch; tail tip a hard finless point; dorsal fin high, origin on head; no anal fin; no pectoral fins.
Head whitish with brown spots; remainder of body dark brown, nearly blackish except white ventrally and also with white dorsal fin.
Size: to 81 cm.
Habitat: sandy bottoms.
Depth: 0-35 m.
Central Gulf of California; Costa Rica to Panama.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
-
- Marine Only
- Marine
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
-
- Bottom only
- Bottom
- Habitat
-
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Sand & gravel
- Soft bottom only
- FishBase Habitat
-
- Demersal
- Feeding Group
-
- No Data
- Carnivore
- Diet
-
- No Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Bony fishes
- Egg Type
-
- Pelagic larva
- Pelagic
- No data
- Global Endemism
-
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) endemic
- All species
- East Pacific endemic
- Regional Endemism
-
- Continental TEP endemic
- TEP endemic
- Continent
- 3 provinces (Cortez + Mexican + Panamic) endemic
- Continent only
- All species
- Residency
-
- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
- Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos)
- Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo)
- IUCN Red List
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- Least concern
- Listed
- CITES
-
- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 81
- Depth Range Min
-
- 0
- Depth Range Max
-
- 35
