Species: Ophidion iris, Brighteye cusk-eel, Iris cusk-eel, Rainbow cusk-eel

Ophidion iris Breder, 1936

Brighteye cusk-eel, Iris cusk-eel, Rainbow cusk-eel

Elongate, compressed; head compressed; snout with small, blunt projection; eye ~ 27% of head length; mouth slightly oblique, top jaw reaches to rear of eye; operculum with a strong, skin covered spine at its upper corner; jaw teeth sharp, slightly curved back, in multiple rows; 6-7 gill rakers, lower 4-5 long; lateral line high, almost to end of tail; dorsal and anal fins continuous with tail; dorsal origin over rear ½ of pectoral; dorsal 121-148 rays; anal 98-122 rays; tail fin short; anal origin < 1 head-length behind dorsal origin; pectoral reaches ~ ½ way to anal, 22-24 rays; pelvic under eye, 2 filaments, ~ 63% of head length, 1.2-1.8x length of pectoral; scales not overlapping and not in regular series, at right angles, head scaleless, body entirely covered with small elongate scales, in clusters of ~ 3-4 or more.