Species: Ophichthus tetratrema, Four-pored snake-eel

Ophichthus tetranemus McCosker & Rosenblatt, 1998

Four-pored snake-eel

Body relatively robust, elongate (height at anus 3.5-4% TL); tail 58.5-60% of TL; head 11% of TL; eye moderate size, ~1/3 length of top jaw, over rear half of mouth; front nostril tubular under snout, ~1/3 of eye diameter; rear nostril a tube above top lip, its tip expanded and flap like, can extend below mouth line;  snout overhanging, rounded, conical when viewed from above; mouth large; teeth pointed, depressible, front of roof of mouth with 2-3 pairs of teeth, then 7-10 in a single row, 1 row of 15-19 teeth on lower jaws, 1-2 rows of 12-14 teeth on top jaws (1 row in smaller fish); gill opening vertical, semicircular; dorsal fin origin a little behind pectoral fin base; dorsal and anal fins low, expanded at rear of tail, tip of tail a blunt, finless point; pectorals paddle shaped, longer than wide, with restricted bases - opposite and above upper half of gill opening; lateral line not abruptly arched at rear of head.