Species: Herpetoichthys fossatus, Moustached snake-eel, Mustachioed snake-eel

Herpetoichthys fossatus (Myers & Wade, 1941)

Mustachioed snake-eel, Moustached snake-eel

Elongate, cylindrical;  tail a little shorter than head and trunk; snout blunt, grooved just behind front and rear nostrils; front nostril tubular, with long dangling barbel behind; rear nostril a slit below eye; eye large; mouth opens at front, long, both jaws of equal length; teeth pointed, in 2 rows on upper jaw, 1 on lower jaw, 2 large canines at front of top jaw; gill openings vertical, curved, at sides; pectoral fins very small, behind upper edge of gill opening;  dorsal fin low, origin at tip or or behind pectoral fin; anal fin low; tip of tail finless.

Yellowish; row of large (paired) dark spots along top of back under dorsal fin; small, densely packed spots all over head, throat and nape; midline of side reddish-brown for entire length, or with a line of spots; lower body with either dark brown bars from midflank to ventral surface along body and tail, or a row large dark spots; dorsal fin may be unmarked or with elongate dark spots; anal and pectoral fins pale.

Size: 55 cm.

Habitat: sand bottoms.

Depth: 5-40 m.

The SW Gulf of California, Lobos Afuera Island (Peru); the Galapagos and Cocos.