King Snake Eel

• It is caught occasionally in the shrimp trawl fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico, and much of what is known about it comes from that bycatch.
• Like the rest of the snake eels, it has a hard, pointed tail tip, which it uses to back into and bury itself in the sediment.
• It is the world's largest snake eel: it exceeds two metres and can top 10 kg.
• It digs backwards with its tail, which ends in a hard, finless point, and spends the day buried in the mud with only its head showing.
• Its specific name, rex, refers precisely to its size: it is the king of its family.
• It is caught mainly as bycatch in the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery, and its size and strength make it troublesome to handle on board.
• Despite being a large, striking species, very little is known of its reproductive biology.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (fish)

Habitat and environment

Soft bottoms of the Gulf of Mexico, between 20 and 350 m

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (en): King snake eel

The pins mark the dive sites where its presence is documented.